What sub-species do i have?

Hi everyone I bought a pair of Eclectus last year and the male seems a bit smaller than the female and I have been trying to figure out which subspecies I have but so far I have not received the right answer. I have been on so many sites even comparing tail feather length but my eckies don't match up to the one on the sites. Would they be able to breed even if they are different subspecies?
They are 7-8 years old and I live in Aus, i'll add photos so you guys can have a look and help me out figure this out.

I'm looking around for you now for the male. That iris color is going to be key here.

Question: Do the primaries of the male edged in a bright neon green?

As many Ekkie owners know it can be very difficult to identify the sub species. But I'm sure Chris will find out for you . Btw eclectus parrot subspecies can inter breed causing a hybrid form of bird. Are you sure your birds are not a hybrid variety like Solomon island cross new guinea red sided. Good luck anyway and be sure to keep us updated.

Hi the male tail feathers has a bright green around 5-7mm only and its tail feather is around 130-135mm long.

Hi Willian I have no idea if they are hybrid because the last owner had the male for couple years then purchased the female from another breeder then sold the "breeding Pair" to me and I have had them for nearly a year and never seen them mate but they show affection for each other, I tried to split them up but they didn't like that and screamed all day. They are still reproducing infertile eggs How can I know if they are not compatible?

My guess:

Male: Solomons Island or Grand (depending on the green edging of the primaries). Can't quite match up the eyes, but the biggest tell tale sign is the lack of obvious yellow looking at the top of the tail. The green edging will tell you the difference between these two subspecies

Female: Solomons Island. The blue eye ring narrows it down (can't be a Grand with that). From what I can tell, the underside lines up with the proper coloring (general lack of yellow).

This is a primary feather (largest feathers on the wings) from my red sided male. You can see what I mean by "edged in green". You have to spread the wing to see this. Can't see it when the wing is at rest. If your guy had this, it's s solomons island male. If not, my bet is you have a grand.



They can breed. It's just a question of SHOULD you. I'll leave that to others to address.

Im not an expert but ive done a bit of research on my own and *in general* SI females tend to be a bit leaner/longer in the head and neck. There was a recent article on subspecies ID, I will see if I can find it and post it here. My girl is "supposed" to be a SI, but her parents records are verbal so the fact that her mother was descended from one of the "original imported wild caught eclectus" is more than a bit suspect imho. Her father is also supposed to be SI but sports a bright red patch on his chest, which is a marker for aurensis--or was it red sided, I forgot. I seriously doubt my girl is 100% anything other than adorable ekkie! I get confused when people call aurensis and red sided as the same thing--I didnt think they were. Anyway...I will look for the link to the article and post later. BTW, since you're planning on breeding, I dont know if DNA testing would give you the definitive subspecies info you were looking for but it's worth checking out.

Here is part II of the article---I sent this to my breeder as general info about the red patch on Liesl's father.

Eclectus Parrot Subspecies Identification | Parrot Facts | PART II

Hope you can find part i. Happy hunting

Also Jane and Scott www.prettyparrot.com have info on their website as well.

Hey Coop! You can't always go by "Stocky/slender necked" because of the possible variation in weight which can distort divergent natural girths. Solomons Island alone can range from 350-450. Physical markers such as the eye ring/presence or absence of yellow are far more reliable.

You are correct, aru red sided and red sided are in fact separate subspecies.

Thanks for the help Chris, I uploaded a new pic of my male and female so you can see their eyes better. The male has red under its wings and from my research he looks a lot like the red sided New Guinea Eclectus but that's just my opinion. What do you guys think?

jaza005 said:

Thanks for the help Chris, I uploaded a new pic of my male and female so you can see their eyes better. The male has red under its wings and from my research he looks a lot like the red sided New Guinea Eclectus but that's just my opinion. What do you guys think?

Click to expand...

Don't see any photos? Either way, they ALL have red under the wing. Red sided might be a tad more, but not at all a reliable indicator. I don't think your male is a red sided. There's not nearly enough yellow on the top side of the tail like mine. Would show you a photo but my male is a plucker, and recently barbered all his tail feathers