eclectus male vs female

[kyekyah]

I have decided on soon becoming owned by an eclectus!

Now I have to decide on male or female.
While researching I have seen a few stories of females being more aggressive then males. However I have found just as many defending the females.
So eclectus owners - what are the male/female differences?
Do the female aggression stories hold truth? are males just as prone to it? what are other common behavioral differences? I have met a few eckies on the way, and they are clearly all individuals - but what are the general differences and positives/negatives of each gender?

Thank you!

 

[mtdoramike]

I can only speak of what I have observed and Ecckies are not very common where I live. I have only seen one female at a local flea market. The owner had her on display at the pet shop there. She wasn't for sale. The owner told me she was quite aggressive and as I walked close to her, she lunged at me with beak wide open and had this look like she wanted to rip my arm off and beat me with it.

Now male ecckies, I own a male that was three when I adopted him. He is a very sweet bird, but, once he gets around women, he gets aggressive with me. Any other time I can handle him and do just about anything with him and he's fine. But with that said, he has still bit my left ear twice clean through to the point you could see day light. Both times he was either on my arm or shoulder and women were involved.

 

[lpolliard]

I can only speak first hand for my male Ekkie. Chico is very laid back and not hormonal at all. I have had him for 19 months and he has rarely tried to bite me. On occasion he will attack my feet but that seems to be common with parrots and can be managed easily. I am able to do what ever I want with Chico. I can roll him on his back and toss him into the air. He doesn't like showers so I have resorted to flipping him over and spreading his wings one at a time to give his under carriage a good soaking. Even while grinding down his beak with the Dremel I am very confident that he will not bite. There is a lot of trust both ways.

From what I have read the females seem more hormonal and can be aggressive/defensive.

 

[sodakat]

Might as well get a male. The internet is clogged with stories on how awful female eclectus are -- and most are written by people who have never owned one.

I'm tired of trying to convince people that both sexes make good pets.

 

[Pajarita]

Females are the dominant gender in this species so, yes, they tend to be more aggressive than males. They also tend to lay eggs every year as they end up eating too much protein in captivity and they have an unusually long breeding season in the wild. I've had both a female and a male and they were both aggressive which is not something that bothers me much as I routinely take in the aggressive birds that other people and rescues would not but what does is that ekkies don't display before they bite and they never give a warning nip as other species would, they go for the kill every time. It was this female ekkie the only bird that killed another one in my birdroom. I've had from macaws to budgies living together with amazons, greys, conures, tiels, lovebirds, sennies, etc and none of them ever killed another bird - except for Elsa (SI) and she didn't even bat an eyelash doing it. The lovebird simply perched next to her, she stretched out her neck to reach it and killed it. Period.

 

[moni.k]

BOTH make great pets. It's the environment, care and effort that really brings out the outcome of the bird. Sure, females are more dominant in nature. They are more prone to territorial and nesting behaviors than a male. However, I have a female and I love her to death. If I could turn back time and choose all over again, I would pick a female. She has never bitten anyone "for the kill". It's all about reading their body language. Sure there are good days and bad, but she has yet to break my skin and I've only been warning bitten a few times since a whole year that I've had her. No matter if you get a male or a female, if you don't respect their wants and needs, an aggressive bird is the outcome (and I say that with ANY bird species and ALL gender).

With that said, Nalani is smart, affectionate and a great talker (when she wants to be ). She's very independent and enjoys sitting on her perch and talk with my family. Her favorite trick is to get flipped upside down and give "spider man kisses". She does pick and choose who she likes and I have struggled a bit with socializing her. Her cage aggression was an issue for a bit, but after respecting her space we formed a whole new level of trust. She now trusts me more than ever and I have very minimal issues with her territorial problems. But she is still young at only 1 year of age so that may still be too soon to say.

I just wanted to share that not all females are the little "red devils". The internet is filled with quick and harsh judgement about the female eclectus, but it's all peoples experience with their bird in their environment. Each bird is raised differently and every bird has different personalities. The best advice is to go and handle both yourself. Meet the birds in person and find what best fits you. Maybe you'll bond with a male or even a female. All in all, if you give the love and respect they deserve (no matter what gender), they will love and respect you back.

PS: I don't mean to step on anyone's toes, I just wanted to share my experience. I work at shelters and rescues to know that too many animals are judged by their breed, species, gender and looks while overlooking their potential to make great pets.

 

[njgray21]

I have a female and she is a sweetheart. I've heard stories of biting aggressive females AND males. I think as with any bird species it just depends on the individual bird.

When I decided to get an Eclectus I didn't look for either gender. I just asked a lot of questions about each birds personality and I ended up with a female. And I couldn't be happier with my choice.

 

[sodakat]

Females are the dominant gender in this species so, yes, they tend to be more aggressive than males. They also tend to lay eggs every year as they end up eating too much protein in captivity and they have an unusually long breeding season in the wild. I've had both a female and a male and they were both aggressive which is not something that bothers me much as I routinely take in the aggressive birds that other people and rescues would not but what does is that ekkies don't display before they bite and they never give a warning nip as other species would, they go for the kill every time. It was this female ekkie the only bird that killed another one in my birdroom. I've had from macaws to budgies living together with amazons, greys, conures, tiels, lovebirds, sennies, etc and none of them ever killed another bird - except for Elsa (SI) and she didn't even bat an eyelash doing it. The lovebird simply perched next to her, she stretched out her neck to reach it and killed it. Period.

I'm very sorry that you lost your lovebird. I always warn people to NEVER allow little birds near big birds and Eclectus are much larger than lovebirds.

 

[Pajarita]

Females are the dominant gender in this species so, yes, they tend to be more aggressive than males. They also tend to lay eggs every year as they end up eating too much protein in captivity and they have an unusually long breeding season in the wild. I've had both a female and a male and they were both aggressive which is not something that bothers me much as I routinely take in the aggressive birds that other people and rescues would not but what does is that ekkies don't display before they bite and they never give a warning nip as other species would, they go for the kill every time. It was this female ekkie the only bird that killed another one in my birdroom. I've had from macaws to budgies living together with amazons, greys, conures, tiels, lovebirds, sennies, etc and none of them ever killed another bird - except for Elsa (SI) and she didn't even bat an eyelash doing it. The lovebird simply perched next to her, she stretched out her neck to reach it and killed it. Period.

I'm very sorry that you lost your lovebird. I always warn people to NEVER allow little birds near big birds and Eclectus are much larger than lovebirds.

Actually, as long as there is plenty of room and perches and everybody is able-bodied, there is no problem. When this happened, I had over 240 birds living together for 6 years and the only incident was this one. People talk about cockatoos grabbing little birds out of the air and killing them but all my birds shared their feeding plates and it was the cutest thing to see the big umbrellas lifting their feet to carefully step over little budgies eating next to them. Different species of birds share common territories in the wild so the 'big bird attacks little bird' thing is more a captivity problem than a size problem and I have found that cages is what makes things bad.

 

[Pajarita]

BOTH make great pets. It's the environment, care and effort that really brings out the outcome of the bird. Sure, females are more dominant in nature. They are more prone to territorial and nesting behaviors than a male. However, I have a female and I love her to death. If I could turn back time and choose all over again, I would pick a female. She has never bitten anyone "for the kill". It's all about reading their body language. Sure there are good days and bad, but she has yet to break my skin and I've only been warning bitten a few times since a whole year that I've had her. No matter if you get a male or a female, if you don't respect their wants and needs, an aggressive bird is the outcome (and I say that with ANY bird species and ALL gender).

With that said, Nalani is smart, affectionate and a great talker (when she wants to be ). She's very independent and enjoys sitting on her perch and talk with my family. Her favorite trick is to get flipped upside down and give "spider man kisses". She does pick and choose who she likes and I have struggled a bit with socializing her. Her cage aggression was an issue for a bit, but after respecting her space we formed a whole new level of trust. She now trusts me more than ever and I have very minimal issues with her territorial problems. But she is still young at only 1 year of age so that may still be too soon to say.

I just wanted to share that not all females are the little "red devils". The internet is filled with quick and harsh judgement about the female eclectus, but it's all peoples experience with their bird in their environment. Each bird is raised differently and every bird has different personalities. The best advice is to go and handle both yourself. Meet the birds in person and find what best fits you. Maybe you'll bond with a male or even a female. All in all, if you give the love and respect they deserve (no matter what gender), they will love and respect you back.

PS: I don't mean to step on anyone's toes, I just wanted to share my experience. I work at shelters and rescues to know that too many animals are judged by their breed, species, gender and looks while overlooking their potential to make great pets.

I love your enthusiasm and your staunch defense of your bird but, with all due respect, a one year old ekkie is not even sexually mature, yet. Parrots change A LOT as they get older...

 

[moni.k]

I love your enthusiasm and your staunch defense of your bird but, with all due respect, a one year old ekkie is not even sexually mature, yet. Parrots change A LOT as they get older...

I agree that parrots change as they mature. However, I believe that with the proper care and dedication they can be great pets. I've met older female and male eclectus at a local nonprofit parrot rescue. She has over 12 eclectus from different homes, many of which pluck and are aggressive. But, it wasn't just the females that had issues, males if raised without proper socialization were also aggressive. What I meant to say, is that females are as capable as males to become aggressive. However, in the right home and care both are capable of becoming great pets.

Pajarita: did you have a rescue? wow, 240 birds are A LOT. haha, it sounds like birdie paradise. I can't imagine what it would sound like 6 in the morning, or the amount of food they consumed in a week!

 

[nicki]

Being a member of this site for close to 4 months or so I have learned that lots of people have female ekkies. It was my first thought, having heard the local rumors that they do not make as good of pets as a male does, but I have learned I was wrong!

Its great to take in account the actual bird and not the sex Learn your stuff, pick a breeder and let her/him pick you <3 Pure luck is how I ended up with my lil martian <3

Also, be prepared, if you are hand-feeding to have a LOUD bird on your hands at that time and also some other times, especially when the microwave goes off. Oy Vey. Out of all of my preparation to bring my baby home, I thought Ekkies were quiet, apartment dweller types. I'm pretty sure its safe to assume this is known by everyone, except me, at my time of bringing home baby, but just making sure Ekkies can be LOUD.

 

[MikeyTN]

When we got our ekkies, I drove over 4 hours away to go pick them up. Gracie was very curious as JoJo was terrified of hands and people period. I think he was abused at one point and attacked by something as his beak was damaged but it's all grown out nicely over time. When my partner came home, Gracie went straight for my partner and that was it, love at first sight. She give me a nasty bite several times. She go for the kill when she attacks like it was mentioned already. But she's never bitten my partner. All I did was grabbing her bowl of food and she attacked me. I can not clean their cage with them around, they have to be in a different room or locked in another cage. Cause if she sees me cleaning her cage, she'll fly over, climb on her cage and attack me, even now as we've had her for several years now. Other then that, she's a total sweet heart and she knows who will protect her when she's scared. Malachai escaped last time and jumped her to attack, Gracie freaked and flew to my chest and hold on to me for her dear life. She's a cuddle bug!!!

JoJo on the other hand required a lot of training from me but I got him to learn to step up within a week. And not to be so scared of us and over time he learned to trust us. He loves me dearly now. When I tell him give me a kiss, he brings his cheek to my lips and I make a kissing sound and he makes one back. Then he'll turn his other cheek towards me for a kiss. He's one of my best talkers and super super intelligent!!!

So to me either sexes makes great pets, it just depends on how you train them! Both of mine are super sweet birds!!!

 

[MikeyTN]

Actually, as long as there is plenty of room and perches and everybody is able-bodied, there is no problem. When this happened, I had over 240 birds living together for 6 years and the only incident was this one. People talk about cockatoos grabbing little birds out of the air and killing them but all my birds shared their feeding plates and it was the cutest thing to see the big umbrellas lifting their feet to carefully step over little budgies eating next to them. Different species of birds share common territories in the wild so the 'big bird attacks little bird' thing is more a captivity problem than a size problem and I have found that cages is what makes things bad.

That means you haven't encounter my Black Lory yet, now he will fly across the room to go after another bird. It doesn't matter on the size of the bird, he will try to kill them. So it's not always true when given plenty of space of separating them apart.

My highest amount that I kept at one point was around 170 birds. I know birds can get along with one another even between big and small species. As my Cockatoo enjoys the company of parakeets, cockatiels, and canaries, but she didn't like the zebra finches. They kept pooping in her food dish, destroying canaries' hard working nest making, and Dixie despises them as she would throw toys at the Zebra Finches. So off the Zebra Finches go.

 

[kyekyah]

I planned to base it all on an individual bird, and wait until I click with one. (I kind of have already.. a gorgeous little girl)
I felt like it would be a better idea to go through a reputable breeder rather then shops and such - but that would mean I have to put a deposit on a particular bird now, that is only a week old, and then be locked into a certain bird without getting to choose it based on personality. (and only females are available)
So, I'm thinking of changing that plan, just so I can meet the birds first. I have met a few now, and they all have very different personalities..

 

[Lintini]

Ooo I know how to solve this issue if I decide to get an ekkie in the future......just buy BOTH! yay!!! See, I am already halfway there since I wandered into the Ekkie forums lol.

You have the right idea, checking out breeders and meeting different babies. Best wishes with this journey!!! And post lots of pics!