Meyer's Parrot
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Meyer's parrot (''Poicephalus meyeri''), also known as the brown parrot, is a species of
parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...
native to Africa. A Meyer's parrot has grey feathers, turquoise belly, blue rump, and bright yellow markings on the carpal joint of the wings. Most subspecies have some yellow on the top of the head as well. Forshaw (1989) recognizes six subspecies of ''P. meyeri'' which vary in home range, size and in markings, including the extent of yellow markings to the head and wings, and the intensity of turquoise markings on the belly and rump.


Taxonomy

German physician and ornithologist
Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar (11 June 1786 – 4 May 1845) was a German physician and natural scientist. Cretzschmar was born at Sulzbach and studied medicine at the University of Würzburg. He taught anatomy and zoology at the Senckenberg Medica ...
described Meyer's parrot in 1827. The name commemorates the German ornithologist
Bernhard Meyer Bernhard Meyer (24 August 1767 – 1 January 1836) was a German physician and naturalist. Meyer was the joint author, with Philipp Gottfried Gaertner (1754–1825) and Johannes Scherbius (1769–1813) of ''Oekonomisch-technische Flor ...
. The six subspecies are: *''P. m. meyeri'' ( Cretzschmar, 1827) — s Chad to w Ethiopia *''P. m. saturatus'' ( Sharpe, 1901) — Uganda and w Kenya to w Tanzania *''P. m. matschiei'' (
Neumann Neumann () is a German language, German surname, with its origins in the pre-7th-century (Old English) word ''wikt:neowe, neowe'' meaning "new", with ''wikt:mann, mann'', meaning man. The English form of the name is Newman. Von Neumann is a varian ...
, 1898)
— c Tanzania, se Congo, Zambia and n Malawi *''P. m. reichenowi'' (Neumann, 1898) — c Angola to s Congo *''P. m. damarensis'' (Neumann, 1898) — n Namibia, s Angola and nw Botswana *''P. m. transvaalensis'' (Neumann, 1899) — Botswana, Zimbabwe and n South Africa Subspecies ''P. m. damarensis'' and ''P. m. reichenowi'' lack yellow markings on the head, while ''P. m. transvaalensis'' may have little to no yellow on the head. Belly and rump colours vary according to subspecies from turquoise to blue.


Distribution and habitat

Meyer's parrots are native to the plateau woodlands of sub-Saharan
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
where they occur in several woodland types including
miombo Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located in central and southern tropical Africa. It includes three woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) chara ...
,
savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
woodlands, wooded grasslands and forests bordering watercourses or agricultural land. They are found in high densities in the
Okavango Delta The Okavango Delta or Okavango Grassland is a vast inland delta in Botswana formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an elevation of in the central part of the endorheic basin of the Kalahari Desert. It is a UNESCO Wor ...
region of
Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...
. They are also found in southern and central Africa (Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Congo, Angola, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Namibia.


Behaviour


Food and feeding

Their wild diet includes fruit, seeds, nuts, berries and cultivated crops. Seeds of the various
leguminous Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...
trees of the African woodlands are especially favoured, providing their staple food in some areas. Although they normally travel in pairs or small flocks, wild Meyer's parrots may gather in much larger numbers where food is plentiful. In drought years they wander in search of food.


Breeding

The Meyer's parrot nests in tree cavities. The eggs are white and there are usually three or four in a clutch. The female incubates the eggs for about 28 days and the chicks leave the nest about 60 days after hatching.


Conservation status

Meyer's parrots are still common in the wild, although numbers have decreased locally following destruction of woodlands. It is generally not considered to be at risk, as their large population, limited pressure from trade and hunting, and 6,000,000 km2 home range make these birds unlikely to face extinction in the near future. Trade in Meyer's parrots that have been bred in aviculture is legal. Meyer's parrots are listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna. Appendix II listing means the species can also be taken from the wild and traded in 'limited' numbers.


In aviculture

Meyer's parrots are commonly bred for the pet trade. They are relatively quiet and small and are able to learn dozens of words. File:Poicephalus meyeri damarensis 1.jpg, File:Poicephalus meyeri -Serengeti National Park, Tanzania-8.jpg, File:Poicephalus meyeri -two captive-6a.jpg, File:Meyers Parrot (Poicephalus meyeri) pet on table.JPG,


References

*Forshaw, Joseph M. and William T. Cooper. 1989. ''Parrots of the World''. Third (Revised) Edition. Landsdowne Editions, Melbourne. *Jordan, Rick and Jean Pattison. 1999. ''African Parrots''. Hancock House, Blaine, WA. *Wirminghaus, J.O., ''Meyer's Parrot''. In: ''The atlas of southern African birds''. Vol. 1: Non-passerines. 1997. .


External links

* Meyer's parrot
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1048800 Meyer's parrot Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa Meyer's parrot Meyer's parrot