The yellow-fronted parrot (''Poicephalus flavifrons'') is a parrot endemic to the Ethiopian Highlands. It is a mostly green with a yellow head. Relatively little is known about this bird.

Taxonomy

German naturalist

Eduard Rüppell Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon Rüppell (20 November 1794 – 10 December 1884) was a German Natural history, naturalist and List of explorers, explorer. Rüppell is occasionally transliterated to "Rueppell" for the English alphabet, due to german ort ...

first described the yellow-fronted parrot in 1845. Its species name is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

words ''flavus'' "yellow", and ''frons'' "forehead". It is also known as the yellow-faced parrot. Most recent authorities treat it as

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

, but some recognized two slightly different

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

, ''P. f. flavifrons'' and ''P. f. aurantiiceps''.Forshaw (2006). plate 67.

Description

The yellow-fronted parrot is about long and is mostly green with the upper parts being a darker green, the tail being olive-brown, and the legs a dark grey-brown. The face is orange-yellow. When two subspecies are recognized, the nominate is believed to have yellow to its head and face, while in ''P. f. aurantiiceps'' some of the yellow is replaced with orange. The upper beak is brownish-grey and the lower beak is bone coloured, the irises are orange-red, and bare eye-rings and cere are grey. Male and female adults have identical external appearance. Juveniles are duller than the adults with a mostly grey head, brown irises, and only a small amount of yellow on the front of the face including on the forehead.

Range

This parrot is endemic to the Ethiopian Highlands at about above sea level. When two subspecies are recognized, the nominate is found in the highlands around

Lake Tana Lake Tana ( am, ጣና ሐይቅ, T’ana ḥāyik’i; previously Tsana) is the largest lake in Ethiopia and the source of the Blue Nile. Located in Amhara Region in the north-western Ethiopian Highlands, the lake is approximately long and wid ...

and also in central Ethiopia, and ''P. f. aurantiiceps'' is found in southwestern Ethiopia. It lives in forest habitats, unlike most other ''Poicephalus'' parrots apart from the Cape and red-fronted parrot superspecies complex.

Aviculture

The yellow-fronted parrot was unknown in aviculture until recently. They appeared in some Slovakian collections and have bred well in captivity. They can now be found in several European countries. Both subspecies are represented.

References

Cited texts

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q767813

yellow-fronted parrot The yellow-fronted parrot (''Poicephalus flavifrons'') is a parrot endemic to the Ethiopian Highlands. It is a mostly green with a yellow head. Relatively little is known about this bird. Taxonomy German naturalist Eduard Rüppell first descr ...

Endemic birds of Ethiopia Fauna of the Ethiopian Highlands