Can someone tell me the subspecies of my guy

[kenjhoule]

Casey is larger than my yellow nape amazon, he is 20 years old domestic bred, bright blue and allot of red under wings, lime green with no apparent yellow hue to body feathers, he has a blocky head but is long and slender with bright orange and yellow upper beak with black lower, ,weighs about 490 grams.

 

[Aussie Ben]

Welcome to the forum, this is a great community, hope you stick around.

Tough question, good one too. I would say he is one of the larger subspecies from his weight. I have a book here with Eclectus subspecies in it, I'll go see if I can figure it out. It will be hard to determine because a) there are only very subtle differences between Eclectus subspecies (particularly in males) and b) Many of the Ekkie subspecies have been interbred in captivity making it hard to distinguish if they are pure and what their background is by appearance. If you have some photos from other angles that might help, particularly of the front and the inside of the tail. Hopefully there is a pro on this forum somewhere who can help out.

BTW that beak needs a trim

 

[kenjhoule]

old picture, beak gets the dremmel every 4 months at the vet

 

[Aussie Ben]

I've had a look, it really is hard to say. Some other photos might help. Is there any yellow on his chest? How much yellow is on his tail? Very hard thing to answer from a photo of the back of an Eclectus, they are so similar from that angle.

I'm gonna take a stab and say it COULD be a Vosmaer's Eclectus but can't really be sure.

Ah, glad to hear the beak is taken care of. Can your vet tell you what he is? Or the breeder/supplier you got him from?

 

[Rrrma]

See if these help any in identifying him:

The Eclectus Group: male comparison table
Subspecies ID

From the pictures he looks like he might fit the red-sided or vos list on the chart.

 

[Bobby34231]

Hey Ken and welcome to the forum, there are 4 sub species of eclectus, vosmaeri,red sided,solomon island and grand, here a few things you can look for and see if any apply......Solomon Island has bright blue rings around eyes and a definate seperation between the blue and red, as in lines of demarkation, Red Sided seems to blend right into each different color and the colors are not as bright. Solomon Island is the smallest of the four breeds. The Grands are the largest of the species..not sure if that will help but there you go, then again you could also have a hybrid, then much of that info might not help at all, the shape and over growth of the beak looks very much like a grand eclectus, but without better pics its really hard to say...........also grands are the largest sub species, weighing an average of about 450 grams

 

[Aussie Ben]

Bobby, just in addition to your post - From multiple sources I have read and learnt that there are actually 9 (arguably 10) subspecies of Ekkie (some people even argue 12, although I don't know the other 2). Grand, Vosmaer's, Westerman's, Sumba Island, Solomon Islands, Australian, Tanimbar, Aru, Biak, and Red Sided. The Australian Eclectus is the largest of the sub species. I think you are right though in respect that the 4 you listed are probably the most likely because they are very common in the pet trade.

 

[Bobby34231]

I'm thinking I should have done some reading before commenting instead of relying on my fading memory.....lol, I'll leave this one up to you and the other Ekkie officionados, did find some interesting info on this website....



Winged Wisdom Pet Bird Magazine - Eclectus Species Profile - Parrots

 

[Aussie Ben]

Bobby, lol just some stuff I read, so thought you might be interested to know.

Actually this whole thing has got me reading and thinking that maybe my Ekkie is a Solomon Islands (or at least part SI) as he is very small for a Red Sided (370g). I thought he was just a 'small fry' but maybe not lol. The breeder said he was RS but he never said 'pure' so just got me wondering...hmmm? Supposedly there are few 'pure' sub species left in Australian Aviculture and they are quite expensive. Most in captivity are hybrids of Grand/Vos/SI/RS. I spose DNA would be the only way to tell for sure?

 

[Bobby34231]

So I guess after all is said and done the only thing we can definatly tell poor Ken for sure is that he has a male Eclectus :52:

 

[Aussie Ben]

So I guess after all is said and done the only thing we can definatly tell poor Ken for sure is that he has a male Eclectus :52:

Yea unfortunately. Its just that Ekkie subspecies are so darn hard to tell apart unless you work with different ones everyday and have that 'trained eye'. If we had some good photos from many different angles we would be able to narrow it down by identifying yellow areas, eye rings as you say and the shape of the tail. Also might help to know length but not vital.

 

[HRH Di]

So I guess after all is said and done the only thing we can definatly tell poor Ken for sure is that he has a male Eclectus :52:

LOL

See, we're very helpful!

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Birdamor]

Ben is correct, there are 11 or 12 subspecies and it is VERY difficult to determine which one they belong to but the good news is that there is a DNA test that is perfectly accurate so, if you have the money and you really, really want to know, do the test. One think stuck out for me, though, and this is that you take your bird to the vet every four months to get his beak trimmed. Does he have some kind of a metabolic problem or liver damage? Because I've never had to have a beak trimed unless there was deformation or liver damage...