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ForestCavity nestLarge · 481 g
ID tip
The Moluccan eclectus is unusual in the parrot family for its marked visible light sexual dimorphism in the colours of the plumage. A stocky short-tailed parrot, it measures around 35 cm (14 in) in length. The male is mostly bright green with a yellow-tinge on the head. It has blue primaries, and red flanks and underwing coverts. Its tail is edged with a narrow band of creamy yellow and is dark grey edged with creamy yellow underneath, and the tail feathers are green centrally and bluer as they get towards the edges.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Moluccan Eclectus
One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 8 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is July, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Moluccan Eclectus
The map shades 6 countries with regular records, and 2 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in United States, Germany.
About the Moluccan Eclectus
The Moluccan eclectus is a parrot native to the Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is unusual in the parrot order for its extreme sexual dimorphism of the colours of the plumage; the male having a mostly bright emerald green plumage and the female a mostly bright red and purple/blue plumage. Joseph Forshaw, in his book Parrots of the World, noted that the first European ornithologists to see eclectus parrots thought they were of two distinct species. Large populations of this parrot remain, and they are sometimes considered pests for eating fruit off trees. Some populations restricted to relatively small islands are comparably rare.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Sumba EclectusEclectus corneliaThe Sumba eclectus, or Cornelia's eclectus is a parrot species which is native to Sumba.
Papuan EclectusEclectus polychlorosThe Papuan eclectus, red-sided eclectus, or New Guinea eclectus is a parrot species which is native to New Guinea.
Side by side: Moluccan Eclectus vs Swift Parrot
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