Moluccan eclectus

Moluccan eclectus
Female E. r. vosmaeri at North Carolina Zoo, no other subspecies combines a purple abdomen and clear yellow undertail coverts.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittaculidae
Genus: Eclectus
Species:
E. roratus
Binomial name
Eclectus roratus
(Müller, 1776)

The Moluccan eclectus (Eclectus roratus) is a parrot native to the Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is unusual in the parrot family 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. Their bright feathers are also used by native tribespeople in New Guinea as decorations.

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2019). "Eclectus roratus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T155072212A155636053. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T155072212A155636053.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.