Good morning Lindsay,
I can’t comment on the identity of
the Eclectus Parrots in Macgregor but assume the reference to the Canberra
Times’ (and other newspapers) stories on Eclectus Parrots were referring
to the work of Robert Heinsohn and his discoveries on the species on Cape York
Peninsula as it was reported about then. I have no idea as to how many Eclectus
Parrots are held in captivity locally but for someone to loose a dozen sounds a
bit out of left field. I would assume that the birds are worth quite a few dollars
and I am sure there would have been advertisments all over the place asking for
information that would help get them back. I do know of a pair that was kept at
Holt but the owners moved to NSW about 6 months ago and took the birds with
them.
Did your friend only identify male birds (mainly
green with a bit of red) or females as well (strikingly red and dark blue)? I think
King Parrots are still your best answer.
Hope this is of some use,
Mark
