What shade of green are ekkies really?

[Parrotlover418]

It's a weird question but I've always wondered why their green looks COMPLETELY different in different photos. What color are they really? Does it depend on the subspecies? I've only seen females in person.

 

[chris-md]

Males are nearly impossible to identify by photo alone. That's how similar they are, it's not nearly as easy as it is with the females.

Different subspecies have different shades, generally falling into forest green or lime green, but not super clear enough to distinguish. For subspecies, I need to study a key to distinguish, I've seen that top photo before (back when I was trying to ID my guys subspecies) but I think I recall that top photo as being a solomon island ekkie on the left, and a vosmaeri on the right. Note the slight shade difference between the two: the left one is maybe a hair darker than the right one. This shows nicely the difference in shades.

In the top photo you posted, you're seeing an artifact of flash photography, they aren't generally going to be that light a green color. On any given day, I suppose I could say my red sided male more resembles the bottom. But I have some photos where he looks brighter.

 

[Anansi]

There are differences in shades from one subspecies to the next. Vosmaeri, for instance, are definitely a lighter green than SI. And as Chris mentioned, the coloring in your first pic is more a reflection of flash photography than than anything else.

FWIW, MY Jolly (SI) along with Bixby (RS) both look closer in hue to the bottom pic.

 

[Mekaisto]

There are definitely differences in shades between subspecies, but also keep in mind that green colouration in birds is an effect of light refracting in the feather barbs - the same bird will look VERY different depending on how much light is hitting it, and at which angle the light is coming from.

 

[Aquila]

The first picture, although distorted with flash, gives more of an undertone difference as well, where as the left is more yellow based green, the right is more blue based green.

A lot of this variation has to do with a parrot's vision seeing more into the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum than we do, so they can identify each other more easily in the wild. Their colors would appear much more vibrant than we see.

 

[Parrotlover418]

I've heard RS ekkies are the darkest. So vos=lightest SI=medium and RS=darkest I guess?

 

[JerseyWendy]

These sites have some great photos for comparing the different sub species:
subspeciesID
Identification of Subspecies - Eclectus-Parrots.com

 

[DexMom]

My Dexter's color in photos is completely dependant on the natural light/flash situation. This is the same bird:

Darker



A little lighter (on my monitor, closest to real life)



Much lighter (camera flash glare)

 

[Parrotlover418]

My Dexter's color in photos is completely dependant on the natural light/flash situation. This is the same bird:

Darker



A little lighter (on my monitor, closest to real life)



Much lighter (camera flash glare)

Great post, but are you sure that's an SI ekkie? SIs are generally more yellow tinted, especially with camera flash glare.

 

[DexMom]

My Dexter's color in photos is completely dependant on the natural light/flash situation. This is the same bird:

Darker



A little lighter (on my monitor, closest to real life)



Much lighter (camera flash glare)

Great post, but are you sure that's an SI ekkie? SIs are generally more yellow tinted, especially with camera flash glare.

That's what the breeder tells me. He is on the smaller side for an ekkie, which is typical for SIs.

It doesn't really make any difference to me and I've never looked into it before. Maybe I'll check out the difference between varieties of Eclectus and see if I have any reason to doubt him now that I know my ekkie a little better.

 

[PetoftheDay]

Cute in any and all shades!

 

[Parrotlover418]

My Dexter's color in photos is completely dependant on the natural light/flash situation. This is the same bird:

Darker



A little lighter (on my monitor, closest to real life)



Much lighter (camera flash glare)

Great post, but are you sure that's an SI ekkie? SIs are generally more yellow tinted, especially with camera flash glare.

That's what the breeder tells me. He is on the smaller side for an ekkie, which is typical for SIs.

It doesn't really make any difference to me and I've never looked into it before. Maybe I'll check out the difference between varieties of Eclectus and see if I have any reason to doubt him now that I know my ekkie a little better.

I guess if he's small than he probably is an SI. I've heard size is a better indicator than color.

 

[Parrotlover418]

There are differences in shades from one subspecies to the next. Vosmaeri, for instance, are definitely a lighter green than SI. And as Chris mentioned, the coloring in your first pic is more a reflection of flash photography than than anything else.

FWIW, MY Jolly (SI) along with Bixby (RS) both look closer in hue to the bottom pic.

Do you notice any color differences between your SI and RS? Differences in iridescence? (I'd like to learn subspecies differences from someone who's actually seen them in person, not from a bunch of unreliable, flash glare filled, and possibly mislabeled internet photos.)

 

[Anansi]

There are differences in shades from one subspecies to the next. Vosmaeri, for instance, are definitely a lighter green than SI. And as Chris mentioned, the coloring in your first pic is more a reflection of flash photography than than anything else.

FWIW, MY Jolly (SI) along with Bixby (RS) both look closer in hue to the bottom pic.

Do you notice any color differences between your SI and RS? Differences in iridescence? (I'd like to learn subspecies differences from someone who's actually seen them in person, not from a bunch of unreliable, flash glare filled, and possibly mislabeled internet photos.)

The color difference in terms of shade of green isn't anywhere near as stark between SI and RS as between either of these sub-species and Vos ekkies, but Jolly's (SI) green is maybe a shade lighter than Bixby's (RS) was.

Another color difference between them is in the blue and red of the wings. The blue of Bixby's wings were far more brilliant and prominent than Jolly's (see my avatar pic for an idea). And there was significantly more red and blue on Bixby's shoulders than there is on Jolly's.

 

[Parrotlover418]

There are differences in shades from one subspecies to the next. Vosmaeri, for instance, are definitely a lighter green than SI. And as Chris mentioned, the coloring in your first pic is more a reflection of flash photography than than anything else.

FWIW, MY Jolly (SI) along with Bixby (RS) both look closer in hue to the bottom pic.

Do you notice any color differences between your SI and RS? Differences in iridescence? (I'd like to learn subspecies differences from someone who's actually seen them in person, not from a bunch of unreliable, flash glare filled, and possibly mislabeled internet photos.)

The color difference in terms of shade of green isn't anywhere near as stark between SI and RS as between either of these sub-species and Vos ekkies, but Jolly's (SI) green is maybe a shade lighter than Bixby's (RS) was.

Another color difference between them is in the blue and red of the wings. The blue of Bixby's wings were far more brilliant and prominent than Jolly's (see my avatar pic for an idea). And there was significantly more red and blue on Bixby's shoulders than there is on Jolly's.

Great informative post. I guess the thing about SI having a "yellow tint" and not RS isn't as noticeable as the Internet claims.

 

[chris-md]

I've only ever heard both RS and SI described as forest green. Whereas vos are a more lime green color.

 

[Anansi]

The yellow tint that they refer to might account for Jolly's plumage being a lighter shade of green than Bixby's, though.

 

[Parrotlover418]

does this accurately depict the coloration of the subspecies?

I read an article saying that their color changes based on their mood (darker=calm, lighter=agitated) but in general is this what the subspecies look like?

 

[chris-md]

I suppose, I'll let others verify. I only have photos to go off of. I don't think they change color with mood, that doesn't really make sense to me.

I will say that using color is not the greatest point of reference. I was trying to distinguish between RS and Vos when trying to ID Parker. A week of solid, obsessive research. It turned out the key is in the primary feathers. RS have green stripes on the edge of their primaries, vos do not. Color was useless for me.

There has also been so much hybridization among the subspecies, the lines get blurred. My avian vet was a bit perturbed when I declared him a RS, because in her opinion (I have no idea if true) RS is highly uncommon in the US. The primaries told the tale for me, but she opined he might be a vos or a hybrid. She also professed to not be an ekkie expert.

Don't stress too much about the color. There are other, more defining characteristics.

 

[JerseyWendy]

VERY well said, Chris!

You are right, they do not/cannot change color depending on mood - it's simply impossible. Now diet certainly can play a major role in their coloring, but no, not their mood, LOL.

Unfortunately you are also spot on about hybridization. There are more ekki breeders these days that are clueless (nor do they care) what sub species they are (inter) breeding than breeders who meticulously keep track of whom they set up with whom.