My 2 male ekkys are so different , why ?

[Robyn]

Hello,
I have recently gained a 2nd male ekky aged 2 yrs old, my other male ekky is 2 yrs and 3 months old and I have had him since he was 14 weeks old.
There is a big difference between my 2 . I do know there is sub species but my main concern is that my one I have had since he was 14 weeks old .... doesnt have the striking green colouring that my newer ekky has. Also my ekky has smaller black feet and my new one has quite big white or cream coloured feet.
Jacks feathers are quite dark, his red feathers are not seen , but right under his wings. I have always seen photos of ekkys where you can see their red feathers, Jacks is NOT visible at all you can see a bit of blue at the top rim of his wings and his beak is not bright or candy corn coloured , but the deep yellow is there. He was taken to the vets and they said there is nothing wrong with him, he is a very happy chirpy boy, always has been.
Our newer Ekky just turned 2 , we have had him about 3 weeks now, he is 3 months younger than Jack but much bigger, beautiful very bright green feathers, red feathers are very visible from under his wings showing at the sides of his belly, big candy corn beak , very bright and big whitish coloured feet.
So my main concern is ..... Is Jack ok ? or is he some sort of runt ??? I have yet to see a photo or hear of somebody who has an ekky with small black feet whose red feathers are not visible.
Thanks..

 

[pawsfoot]

I am by no means an expert, but it just sounds to me like you have 2 different subspecies. It sounds like the bird you have had since it was a baby is a Soloman Island Eclectus and the new bird is a Red-Sided Eclectus. Without some pictures I can't truly identify them, but from your description that it what it sounds like. Here is a good website to look at. Subspecies ID
If your avian vet thinks that Jack is a healthy bird then I would not worry.

 

[deds]

bright green could means vosmaery eclectus

 

[Molcan2]

This is because you have two different subspecies males. There are 10 different subspecies. The ones that are most common in the US: Grand, Vosmaeri, Red sidedand Solomon Island. The ones that are not as common in the US are: Macgillivray, Aruensis, Cornelia, Riedeli and Biaki. The tenth that is recognized comes from taxidermy specimens and is considered extinct: Westerman s. You'll have to look up pics (I would recommend a book of eclectus species vs. the internet) and compare to your bird to see what type they are.

 

[Remy]

I demand pictures!! :-D

 

[suebee]

awww poor jack the runt lol an pics please

 

[MikeyTN]

Like it was mentioned, different subspecies!

 

[Robyn]

thanks, I do know they are different sub species but my main concern is I have never seen any eclectus like Jack, we have had him for just over 2 yrs now, we got him when he was 14 weeks old. The breeder I got him from said he is an SI eclectus, but he doesn't show any red feathers at all like photos have seen of other SI ekkys. Jacks red feathers are right up under his wings.
Our newer parrot, after reading about sub species has me wondering if he is a Vosmaeri, think that's the spelling.
He is 3 months younger than Jack but bigger than Jack, whitish feet, beautiful red at the sides and he does have a red patch on his chest that I read the Vosmaeri have.
I definitely will try and get good pics of each and post.
Thanks

 

[Robyn]

I hope I have downloaded these right . Here is the pics of my 2 ekkys. Forgot to mention that our new parrot has a very thin line of yellow across the tip of his tail. Jack doesnt.

 

[Pedro]

Comparing your photo's to my own eclectus males & I do have 7 to compare. I would say your new bird is Red Sided & your original bird is SI. IMO no 2 males look alike they all are very different to each other. If i put all my males in a cage together i would be able to tell who is who. They do have either red or blue feathers popping up here & there through the green. They all have the pale yellow on the end of the tail. I think you will also find that the Red Sided has the orange/yellow beak.

However i did notice all the black markings on the SI feathers on the wings. It would seem he maybe lacking in or getting to much of something in his diet. I have no idea why his feet are so dark, as all males usually have the light colored feet.

 

[Robyn]

Jack who is the darker of the 2 has always had darker feet. His black on his feathers is from flying around our house, he tends to knock his wings.
He has been seen to by the avian vet who can't find a thing wrong with him and he has never been sick. I too was worried about the black on his wings but the vet said he isn't lacking in anything.
They get a huge variety of fruit and veggies, I steam their cauliflower , a little sweet potato and some peas. They get pomegranate, apple, celery, snow peas, carrots, bean sprouts, boiled egg with the shell, cuttlebone, grapes, some sunflower seed not a lot, almonds, some millet not a lot of that either. They get some seed. Heaps of other things. So I'm not sure why he is like he is. Vet says he is 100 %.
His feet has always been black.

Just adding to my post, I googled Eclectus and their feet and some of the info says they can have dark grey feet, I'd say that's probably what his feet are. Was more concerned with not seeing his red feathers.

 

[QuackQuack]

A thought I have is that perhaps he is just different? I used to show dogs and in breeding them we came to 'expect' certain features to show up in litters, and when they didn't, we were baffled. Truth be told some specimens were just wild cards but still wonderful on the inside! Could this be the case for why he didn't get the red feathers you're missing?

 

[Robyn]

Could be that he is just different, he isn't missing the red feathers but they are right up under his wings.
I had just never seen another like him, was only more concerned when we got our 2nd one a few weeks ago. The previous owner of him even questioned it, so got me worried.
As my husband said " maybe he is a Chinese import ' , my poor little baby lolol.

 

[QuackQuack]

My childhood grey never had a very 'good' red tail despite his parents both having vibrant bright ones, so you just never know! :11:

 

[MikeyTN]

Here's a website I used to identify mine when I first got him.

http://www.eclectusgroup.org/pages/cocktable.htm

 

[Pedro]

Although you have 2 different sub-species there is no rule to say they should all look the same. Genetics play a big role in what the birds will actually look like. You can have 2 males in the same nest look totally different to each other.

There is not a day go by without eclectus babies in my bird room being H/R. So the lack of red under your birds wing is nothing new to me. Just like some chicks i have had the hens have feathered out orange where the red should be & the maroon wings are a brown color. The red under the males wings will also be orange. After the 12 month molt they feather out their normal colours.

Also Robyn to much oil in their diet can cause the black on the feathers. I would be a bit suss if a flighted bird did so much damage to his wings. If the Vet has given a clean bill of health you could try to limit anything with to much fat & see if it improves. Also see after his next molt his feathers should show improvment if it's only rough flying through the house.

 

[Robyn]

Thanks Pedro, he doesn't get much fatty or oily stuff but when he does it's not much at all. I know some nuts can be and also too much millet.
But will definitely keep an eye on that.
We have a lot of pillars in our house, so he tends to knock himself flying around those.
I didn't even know that too much oil could do that to feathers, will g through his diet again and see what I can improve on, would like to see some nice feathers on him.
Thanks