Eclectus Parrot       Eclectus make wonderful pets and have excellent talking abilities. They also love to mimic their favorite sounds, such as microwaves, laughter, opera, and sneezing. Our Eclectus sing, watch television and love to listen to the radio. They are adventuresome and love to explore new places and people. Ours understand many commands, such as kiss, eagle, there's a birdie, inside, fly, jump, come here, no, up, and naughty. The Eclectus' speaking ability will be dependent upon the individual, its bond with its human, how much time is spent speaking directly to the bird, its health status, age, and a number of other circumstances. I found that playing the repeating tapes did not help or improve speaking ability.      Many bird owners do not allow their birds to sit on their shoulders, referring to the rule that the bird's eye level should not be above the human's eye level because of possible dominance. I might believe this if we were speaking of a wild or untamed bird being domesticated. However, if an Eclectus is purchased while still an infant and "Pecking order" is established at a very young age, I see no reason not to allow the bird on your shoulder, as long as it is not placed in a situation where it becomes frightened. In fact, your shoulder will probably become one of its favorite places to be.      Our Eclectus are very playful and enjoy hanging upside down in their cages and flapping their wings, playing with toys and interaction with us and the other birds. They are very tidy and can be easily potty trained. Also, they do not throw their food. Many experts have written the smaller Solomon Island Eclectus are the most calm and docile of the Eclectus species, and I must agree. They are generally quiet, non-chewers, non-screamers, and since they live in colonies in the wild, they tend to bond to a family rather than just one person.      They produce no feather dust, because they have an oil gland rather than a dust gland for preening. Because of this, one should never see feather dust on the beak of a healthy Eclectus parrot. Instead, its beak should be clean and shiny.      Eclectus are very intelligent and focus their eyes on their owner to closely observe every movement. They show interest not only in you but in everyone and everything around them. They love to explore and usually show little fear.      But an Eclectus will display the normal fear response, which is referred to as "flight or fight". If something frightens them, they will let out a scream and fly quickly in any direction. The best solution is to speak quietly and slowly to the bird until it is calmed down.      We have noticed our Eclectus are sensitive to loud noises such as thunder, fireworks, alarms, etc. I have read that hens may trample their eggs or chicks during these disturbances, but we have not had this problem.      It is very common to see a young bird with broken tail feathers. This usually happens because of the high activity level among infants, and is not normally nutritionally related. Some breeders pull the broken feathers out with a pair of pliers, but we opt for letting the tail feathers fall out during molt and grow back normally.      The female of the Eclectus species is the dominant gender, and many people find that when the infant female reaches puberty, she becomes aggressive. This is simply those hormones talking, and the female needs her space during these mood swings. This is strictly an instinctive behavior and not meanness. The male is very subservient and probably makes the least moody pet. The tameness of any pet parrot depends on the amount of direct attention, play time, handling, and interaction with its handler and other birds as an infant. Even the moody female will eventually mellow out as she matures.