Eclectus

Belongs within: Psittaculidae.

The eclectus parrot Eclectus roratus is a large parrot found in New Guinea and neighbouring islands, as well as in the northeasternmost part of Australia. The species is strongly sexually dimorphic, with males bright green and females red.

Characters (from Rutgers & Norris 1972): Male a rather large heavy bird with a short square tail; general body plumage bright dark green. Shoulders bright sky bule; outer edges of wing primaries deep ultramarine blue; under wing coverts and flanks bright red; feathers of vent and under tail coverts with bright yellow green tips; upper sides of tail feathers green with royal blue outer edges and white tips, under sides darkest brown with yellow tips. Iris orange-yellow; upper mandible coral with yellowish tip, lower mandible black; feet grey. Female with overall body plumage rich red, with wide blue abdominal band and blue collar on upper back; shoulders, outer edges of wing primaries and under wing coverts bright blue; tail red on upper side, pale brown with orange tips underneath. Iris pale yellow; bill black; feet grey. Call a harsh rolling screech.

<==Eclectus Wagler 1832B94 [incl. Larius Boddaert 1783C38, Lorius non Vigors 1825C38; Eclectini]
    |--*E. grandis (Gmelin 1789) [=Psittacus grandis]ICZN70
    `--E. roratus (Müller 1776)J06, C38 [=Psittacus roratusC38, *Lorius roratusC38]
         |--E. r. roratusRN72
         |--E. r. aruensisRN72
         |--E. r. biakiRN72
         |--E. r. corneliaRN72
         |--E. r. goodsoniRN72
         |--E. r. macgillivrayi Mathews 1913RN72, C38 [=E. pectoralis macgillivrayiC38, Lorius roratus macgillivrayiC38]
         |--E. r. maforensisRN72
         |--E. r. pectoralisJ06 [incl. Polyckloros magnusS13]
         |--E. r. polychlorosJ06
         |--E. r. riedeliJ06
         |--E. r. solomonensisRN72
         `--E. r. vosmaeriRN72

*Type species of generic name indicated

References

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.

[C38] Cayley, N. W. 1938. Australian Parrots: Their Habits in the Field and Aviary. Angus & Robertson Limited.

[ICZN70] ICZN. 1970. Larius Boddaert, 1783 (Aves): suppressed under the plenary powers. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 27: 176–177.

[J06] Johnstone, R. E. 2006. The birds of Gag Island, Western Papuan islands, Indonesia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 23 (2): 115–132.

[RN72] Rutgers, A., & K. A. Norris (eds.) 1972. Encyclopaedia of Aviculture vol. 2. Blandford Press: London.

[S13] Sarasin, F. 1913. Die Vögel Neu-Caledoniens und der Loyalty-Inseln. In: Sarasin, F., & J. Roux (eds) Nova Caledonia: Forschungen in Neu-Caledonian und auf den Loyalty-Inseln. A. Zoologie vol. 1 pt 1 pp. 1–78, pls 1–3. C. W. Kreidels Verlag: Wiesbaden.