Red-bellied Parrot
Poicephalus rufiventris
A chunky, mid-sized parrot with a big bill and a short tail. Males have a large orange patch on the underparts and underwings. Females are much plainer. Found in savanna and woodland habitat, often around fruiting trees, usually in pairs. The calls include screaming notes and quieter whistles. Similar to Meyer’s and Brown-headed Parrots, but males separated by the orange in their plumage, and females by their lack of a yellow underwing patch.
Identification
The red-bellied parrot is a small parrot about 23 cm (9 in) long and weights 140 g (5 oz). It is a mostly greenish and grey bird with the green being more prominent over its lower surfaces and the grey more prominent over its upper surfaces. Adult birds have green feathers covering the upper portions of their legs, red irises and dark grey beaks. The species is sexually dimorphic; Typically, males have a bright orange lower chest and abdomen, whilst adult females are greenish on these lower areas. The dimorphism occurs from a young age and is seen even in young chicks still in the nest.The red-bellied parrot eats seed, fruit kernels, flowers, nectar, and periodically leaves, bark, and juice from hard fruits.Although the name red-bellied parrot implies that the parrot has hints of red, the word for the color orange was not introduced into the English language until after the fruit orange was discovered and named, so some animals which are colored orange by our current definition were named red due to the fact that a word for the color orange didn't exist in English.
Taxonomy
Genus: Poicephalus; Family: Psittacidae; Order: Psittaciformes.
- Scientific name
- Poicephalus rufiventris
- Authority
- (Rüppell, 1842)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
- Genus
- Poicephalus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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