Eclectus Parrot Review

I adopted a female Eclectus parrot from the local avian rescue about two years ago.  I absolutely adore her and would suggest an "ekkie" to anyone who is looking for a friendly, entertaining, and relatively quiet larger bird. 

The Eclectus is native to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Australia.  While most birds require DNA testing or surgical sexing to determine if they are male or female, it is very easy to determine the sex of the Eclectus.  Females are a beautiful combination of reds, blues, and purples while the males are bright green and have an orange/yellow/white beak that resembles a candy corn.  These parrots are considered to be medium-sized and are similar in size to African Greys and Amazons.  They have not been kept as pets for more than 30 years so no one is exactly sure what their life span is.  Most aviculturists agree that it is probably 50 years, if not more.

Eclectus parrots are very smart and love to play with toys, especially swings.  It is not uncommon for my ekkie to really get her swing going and then sit back and laugh as it moves.  They do enjoy chewing on wooden toys and shredding straw items but they aren't particularly destructive so their toys tend to last for several months.  Many times I've thrown away toys simply because *I* was sick of looking at them, not because they were in bad shape. 

These birds do require a specialized diet of mostly fresh foods.  When I first decided to adopt a bird, I thought that they just ate seeds.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  Nowadays I cook more for my ekkie than I do for the humans in the house!  Each week I boil up a large pot that includes: half a bag of brown rice, half a bag of soaked 15-bean soup mix, bag of frozen soup veggies, bag of frozen peas/carrots, half a bag of frozen green beans, and half a bag of frozen okra.  That is the base food that is fed for both breakfast and dinner.  To that I add slices of fresh fruits/veggies (papaya, kiwi, apples, blueberries, cranberries, baby carrots, zucchini, dandelion greens, kale, cherry tomatoes, corn, peppers, etc.), hardboiled egg, plain, lowfat yogurt, cottage cheese, canned salmon, chicken, pasta, and small bits of cheese.  Obviously, she doesn't get all of those things every day but she does get them all within any given month.  In addition to the fresh foods, most ekkies enjoy a dry mix including sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, soy nuts, etc.  Most ekkie owners advise against feeding pellets, especially colored ones, because these birds can be very sensitive to fortified foods and dyes. 

Eclectus parrots are very smart and they truly enjoy spending time with people.  Their cage should be at least 30" wide, 24" deep, and 36" high and that is at the very minimum.  Mine lives in a 36" x 26" x 64" dometop macaw cage.  These birds require at least two hours out of their cage and preferably more.  Scarlett is out of her cage and on her perch in the kitchen (where we spend most of our time) from 2pm until bedtime at 8 or 9pm.  She enjoys seeing visitors and being right in the middle of things.  When we have parties and barbeques, she will sit out with us and loves the activity.  I also bring her into school every Friday (I'm a teacher) and she loves the hustle and bustle of the high school.

Many ekkies are excellent talkers but there are some who do not ever decide to speak.  These guys are usually ranked in the top 3 species of talking birds, behind Amazons and Greys.  It's important not to bring an ekkie into your home just because they are known to have the ability to talk.  Even if they do decide to talk, they usually won't do it on command.  My ekkie will say "hello" to people and will laugh along if we are laughing, but that's all she'll say to your face.  When she's in her cage and thinks she's alone, though, she amazes me with the things she says.  Some of her favorite phrases are: hi Scarlett, what are you doing?, step up!, good night, good girl, bad bird, pretty bird, stop!, okay, and the names of my cats.  She has learned to say things after hearing them just once.  Aside from her vocabulary, she also has many different whistles, clicks, and kissy-sounds.  A happy Eclectus does not scream except for the occasional call at daybreak and sunset.  I wouldn't ever describe my ekkie as "quiet" rather she is more like a radio or television that's always on in the background: lots of chatter but never very loud. 

Some ekkies become very hormonal when they reach sexual maturity and can become almost aggressive and unhandleable.  There are different strategies that you can use to try to prevent/curtail such behavior.  Most of it can be controlled but these guys truly are "wild animals" and some of them are just hard-wired to want to breed.  Also, as I mentioned earlier, some Eclectus are very sensitive to ingredients in food and will pull feathers, wing-flip, and/or toe-tap until you correct their diet.  I've owned my sexually-mature, almost 5 year old ekkie for over two years now and I haven't had any issues with aggression, nest-building, plucking, wing-flipping, or toe-tapping. 

As with all birds, there are some lifestyle changes that you'll have to make when you bring an Eclectus home.  You cannot use any kind of non-stick cookware (Teflon, etc) in the house or harsh cleaning products that create strong vapors or aerosols near the bird.  I can only use my Clorox Cleanup, bleach, and Lysol spray when the birds are many rooms away or outside.  Candles cannot be burned anywhere near parrots, either, as the lead wicks and strong fumes can kill them. 

If you are willing to put for the effort in preparing healthy foods for them and make the necessary lifestyle changes, you couldn't ask for a better bird than an Eclectus parrot.  They are absolutely stunning, they love being around people, they can develop a large vocabulary, and they don't scream as a general rule.  I can't remember what life was like without my darling Scarlett girl and everyone who meets her agrees that she is phenomenal.  I would recommend ekkies to anyone who is ready to properly care for a larger bird.