Monty - Subspecies ID?

[mrstweet]

I'm looking into ekkie subspecies, and I'm thinking Monty is a vosameri eclectus and not a solomon island eclectus as once thought. He has blue on the tops of his wings and a much yellower beak. Without feathers he is also quite heavy around 418g.

Monty, showing the tops of his wings and coloring

 

[kcbee]

I see the blue on the top of his wings. I don't know anything about ekkies, but the blue definitely looks to me like a Vosmaeri. He definitely has more blue than the Red Sided.

 

[mrstweet]

I'm wondering if he could be a vos/RS hybrid because of his beak coloration...I'm leaning heavily towards the vos though and I think SI is not at all correct.

 

[kcbee]

I did notice that too - the coloring of his beak. It is deeper, more like the RS. And I agree, he doesn't look at all like a Soloman Island .

 

[Mythreeiggys]

I don't know much about ekkies but just looking at the pictures of the 3 and montys wing tips and size, I would go with Vos with the possibility of Vos/RS like you said. I would rule out SI totally though .

 

[kcbee]

Also, his head shape looks like the RS to me - but I'm not sure if that is a reliable way to judge or not.

 

[mrstweet]

• Red-sided Eclectus -- Eclectus roratus polychloros (blue eye ring/no yellow on tail)
• Vosmaeri Eclectus -- Eclectus roratus vosmaeri (yellow on tail/no blue eye ring)
• Solomon Island Eclectus -- Eclectus roratus solomonensis (like small Red-sided)

He doesn't have a blue eye ring, and he has yellow on his tail. Keep in mind we are looking at just one example of each male. I just happened to find a side by side comparison photo.

 

[mrstweet]

Also, if it helps the primary flights he is growing in now are blue (the old ones are greyish black, potentially due to nutrient deficiencies).

Sub-Species in the USA - Little Wings Eclectus

 

[Birdiemarie]

• Red-sided Eclectus -- Eclectus roratus polychloros (blue eye ring/no yellow on tail)
• Vosmaeri Eclectus -- Eclectus roratus vosmaeri (yellow on tail/no blue eye ring)
• Solomon Island Eclectus -- Eclectus roratus solomonensis (like small Red-sided)

He doesn't have a blue eye ring, and he has yellow on his tail. Keep in mind we are looking at just one example of each male. I just happened to find a side by side comparison photo.

Only the females can have the blue eye ring.
I also tend to think Monty has more of an RS head shape.

Head Shapes:
http://www.eclectus-parrots.com/page04_identification_of_subspecies.htm
Tail Lengths:
http://www.eclectus-parrots.com/page09_tail_feather_identification.htm
Subspecies and Links:
http://forums.avianavenue.com/eclectus-alley/43234-eclectus-subspecies-identification.html

 

[Renae]

He does, Marie. His head isn't bulky(?) like the Vosmaeri, but then he has a lot of blue on the wings, too. That is really interesting.

ETA: I just looked again, and Monty's body (to me) looks more like the Red Sided, but then he doesn't have any feathers so it might not be.

 

[Birdiemarie]

The differences between the males are so subtle even some experts have trouble figuring them out and with Monty being only in his pajamas it's even harder. He is a cutie, though.

 

[sodakat]

The Eclectus Group: male comparison table The color of his feathers in the pictures you've posted looks more RS to me, but it is soooo tough to tell from photos. The only time I've seen the subspecies next to each other I noticed that RS boys are more of a forrest green compared to the lime green of Solomons and Vos, but when you only have one bird it's hard to say what shade of green he is! Also, the color if the iris of his eyes is an indicator. RS eyes would be a tad more reddish than orange.

 

[carlottalyn]

Hmm...Riley (SI) has quite a bit of blue on the top of his wings (hidden in most pics by other feathers, but other times very noticeable), so I'm not sure if that's always an indicator? And like Marie said, the blue eye rings is only with females. He does sound a bit heavy for the average SI, although I'm pretty sure there are some in the 400 range...Riley's a shrimp at 310-320 lol.

 

[mrstweet]

Keep in mind he is 418g with about 1/5 of the feathers most ekkies have....

 

[HelenVanessaDavies]

I don't know anything about ekkie subspecies..I just wanted to post to say I think he's beautiful

 

[jmfleish]

I also say RS. The beak color is more of the RS than the Vos. Also, Vos tend to weigh in anywhere from 460 to 500 grams.

 

[April]

Im not sure what he is,but he's adorable and its interesting to see what everyone thinks.

 

[CarmieJo]

I think Monty's beak looks like RS. Howard is a RS and he weighs in around 470.