Brown-headed Parrot Poicephalus cryptoxanthus Scientific name definitions

23–25 cm. 114–156 g (1 Britton, P. L. (1970). Some non-passerine bird weights from East Africa. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 90(5):142–144; 90(6):152–144. Close ). Head and neck dusky brown, back and wings brownish green, rump yellowish green, tail greenish brown, underparts green, underwing-coverts yellow. Juvenile generally duller, with yellowish olive on breast and neck. Supposed hybrids with <em>P. meyeri</em> show some yellow over head and loss of green in brownish back, with bluish in rump and uppertail-coverts. Race tanganyikae greener above, richer below.

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Semi-arid and subhumid bush, thornveld, open wooded savanna and woodland, including areas with large baobabs or figs , riparian forest, coconut and cashew-nut plantations, edges of smallholdings, and mangroves, up to 1200 m.

Seeds, e.g. Erythrina and Adansonia; nuts; fruits , particularly of figs (Ficus), Pseudocadia zambesica and berries, e.g. of cultivated cassava; pods of Acacia and Albizia gummifera; nectar, apparently, of Aloe marlothii and Kigelia pinnata; and coconut inflorescences and green shoots of trees. Known to raid millet and maize crops.

Commonest call is a short, sharply upslurred, piercing “kwEEt!” or a slightly longer “krra-eet!”. Also utters a variety of similar-sounding short piercing squeaks.

Apr–Oct in S Africa; May in Malawi; Jul and Sept in Mozambique; Apr, Jun and Jul in E Africa, but probably Sept–Oct on Zanzibar and Pemba. Nest in unlined hole in tree. Eggs 2–3; incubation c. 28 days, by female only; fledging period c. 12 weeks.

Not globally threatened. CITES II. Locally common, E Transvaal, especially in Kruger National Park . Common, especially in Acacia below 600 m, Malawi. The common small parrot of Mozambique. Common Pemba. Frequent, Wasiri I, S Kenya, and common, Shimoni, but local and uncommon elsewhere in Kenya. Persistently destructive of grain crops.