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The Cornelia Eclectus was first reported in scientific literature in 1850 by Bonaparte and is unique (along with the Riedeli or Tanimbar Eclectus) in that the females lack any purple or blue in their breast feathers. Their breast feathers are entirely red in coloration. The size of the Cornelia Eclectus ranges close to that of the Vosmaeri Eclectus. It is a relatively large Eclectus. It is considerably larger than that of the Tanimbar Eclectus, the other all red Eclectus female. The Cornelia Eclectus originates from the island of Sumba, Indonesia. This subspecies can be found in aviculture but is extremely rare. Male The male Cornelia Eclectus is very similar to that of the Vosmaeri male with its brightly candy-corn colored upper mandible and large oval red patch showing beneath its closed wings. It also closely matches the size of the Vosmaeri and is larger than the Grand Eclectus. The green head and neck coloration is paler in comparison to the Grand subspecies and when observed from the top, its green tail feathers are suffused with blue. The underside of the tail is blackish. The outer ends of its body feathers are tipped in light green and the tip of its tail is very slightly tinged with yellow. The whisper of grayish-yellow edging at the tip of it tail is almost nonexistent when observed from the top but is more evident from beneath probably due to being contrasted to the dark under tail color. The iris color on the male is golden-amber in coloration. Female The female Cornelia has a totally red breast and chest. There is no evidence of any lavender, purple or blue found in the entire body feathers. It lacks the normal tail colors found in other Eclectus female subspecies. The Cornelia female’s tail is completely red. It is noted in some of the scientific literature that the female’s tail is narrowly tipped with yellow. This has not been the observations one of the authors who has visually observed living specimens of this subspecies. If anything, the tail may faintly blend into an orangish-red tip. Its under tail coverts are dark red laced with a dark steel gray coloration ending with a paler edging. This female is indeed a striking bird because of its solid red coloration. The red on the bird’s chest is particularly bright. Its back and upper wing coverts are maroon in coloration. The iris color on the female is light yellow and its eyes are not surrounded by a blue eye-ring found in the Red-sided subspecies.
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