Just got a few shots w/my tablet, out where she's most beautiful. Out in the full sunlight those colors just pop. Even my good camera never has been able to do her justice. The red goes from the bright primary color of her head down to the darkest blood through her wings. The blue goes from a blackish navy through her chest to neon on her shoulders.

I've always been a little biased, of course. But when she's in full feather, I think she's an absolute stunner by any standard. So I thought I'd share my beautiful girl, before she morphs back into her raggedy winter self.

Eventually I went to pull & clean the dish. That was when I realized whatever was covered in left overs looked odd. I was thinking "What is that? It doesn't look like any of her toys. It's so covered in stuff but it ...looks sort of like an egg. She laid an egg...? Kura laid an egg!!"

It actually took an extra second to register that covered in bits of food was a shockingly large, perfect, white egg (emphasis on shocking lol). After living w/her for so long, I don't actually realize how big Kura really is any more. But that egg certainly reminded me. It wasn't that much smaller than a little chicken egg.

As soon as I started to pay it any attention, Kura went over & started fussing w/it. So I walked away as casually as I could under the circumstances & tried to give everyone else their time. Of course my head was buzzing w/things I should & shouldn't do, starting w/finding the spare cup ring so I could feed her until I though it was okay to pull the egg.

Unfortunately, that started a half hour scavenger hunt because the thing wasn't where I thought I'd put it. By the time I found everything for the extra cup, Kura was pretty focused on getting something to eat & seemed to be over her egg.

But just in case, while she was eating, I cleaned everything & returned it for the time being. I figured if she continued to ignore it, great. If she continues to lay, better to have a cup the size of a cereal bowl rather than use the floor, I guess.

Even though I knew it was silly, I almost felt guilty when I had to leave for a bit. While I was running errands I kept thinking about how I'd enjoyed the teils when they were breeding. Sitting at the stop lights, a couple of visions of little naked ekkies even floated thru my head.

Of course the voice in my head immediately said, "Stop that right now!!!" It's by no means all fun & games breeding birds, & I do know it. I definitely know what it would take to incorporate another big bird into the flock. And ekkies are selective about who they mate. And there's so much to raising parrots, of course. And in the end, I'd have to part w/those precious babies! But even still it was nice to daydream, just for a minute or two.

As soon as I came home of course I casually raced over to check on Kura. She came across the cage from her "nest" cup to greet me. Then she went back to the other side ...to finish eating her egg.

Yyupp, moment over. Just in case any silly notions were still lingering.

On a positive note, I don't have to decide what to do about pulling the egg(s) now. All that's left is to just wait & see whether this was a one-off or what & hope all goes well in the meantime.

The coloring of the plumage varies between the species of eclectus parrots. There is the Eclectus roratus roratus aka Grand Eclectus; Eclectus roratus vosmaeri, aka Vosmaer's Eclectus or Vos Eclectus; Eclectus roratus cornelia, aka Sumba Island Eclectus Parrot; Eclectus roratus riedeli aka Tanimbar Islands Eclectus Parrot; Eclectus roratus polychloros, aka New Guinea Red-sided Eclectus parrot; Eclectus roratus Macgillivrayi, aka Australian Eclectus parrot; and the Eclectus roratus solomonensis, aka Solomon Island Eclectus parrot.

The Eclectus requires vegetables high in beta-carotene, such as lightly cooked sweet potato, fresh broccoli and fresh corn on the cob. Fresh figs, mango, apples, and bananas are favorite fruits. Fresh greens such as endive or dandelions are very important to provide calcium and other nutrients. Sprays of millet is one seed source they highly enjoy. Nuts are a good source of vitamin E but should be limited in quantity in order to avoid too much fat in the diet and an obese parrot.

An Eclectus has the ability to learn to talk and speaks clearly and has a wide range of sounds including bell and gong tones, coos, whistles, squeals and honks. However they do have the ability to scream and shriek loudly when frightened or excited. On the downside, male Eclectus are quite sensitive and if stressed have been know to pluck their feathers. As a plus, the Eclectus does not create any feather dust as they have oil glands rather than dust glands for preening. This is great news for allergic people.

An Eclectus does well in a large cage or aviary, or at least in a cage with plenty of room for extending wings and moving and climbing around unencumbered. Plenty of out of cage time and toys are a must for a happy Eclectus. As for age, the average lifespan can extend over 30 to 45 years.

In captivity Eclectus parrots are generally calm birds displaying a pensive nature. They bring to mind both serenity and beauty. They watch people quietly and intensely so as to observe every movement. Their personality is considered extremely endearing.

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/25175742?rvp=1

all is well and he is eating his veggies pretty good

so much on that vet visit he didn't ask or say anything about blood work or weigh him , that's was a last time vist

He's 9 yrs old and a sweet bird, doesn't seem bothered much by the change, my husband said he was really quiet the whole trip until he pulled in the driveway and he squawked. As soon as he handed the carrier to me and I set him down he said "hey" he talked up a storm for awhile. He's been climbing in and out of his cage and is eating well, he likes my "cooking", he dug right into his dinner.

here is a picture