Timneh Parrot
Psittacus timneh
Large gray parrot with a white face and brick red tail. Main habitat is lowland and mid-elevation forest, but will sometimes also use gallery forest, secondary forest, mangroves, and cultivated areas, especially oil palm. Found in pairs or small groups. Very similar to Gray Parrot, but little or no overlap in range, and separated by the brick red rather than bright red tail, as well as the pinkish rather than black top of the bill. Gives a wide variety of loud vocalizations including whistles, bell-like notes, and screeches.
Identification
Growing to 28–33 centimetres (11–13 in) in length and weighing 275–375 grams (9.7–13.2 oz), the Timneh is a medium-sized parrot. Its plumage is mainly a mottled grey, with a white face mask and pale yellow eyes. Compared with the only other recognised Psittacus species, the grey parrot (P. erithacus), the Timneh is smaller and darker, with a dull, dark maroon (rather than crimson) tail and a horn-coloured patch on the upper mandible. Like the grey parrot, the Timneh parrot is intelligent and a skilled mimic. The Timneh parrot may be less nervous and more outgoing around human beings, and can learn to talk at a younger age than the grey parrot.
Taxonomy
The Timneh parrot was formally described in 1844 by the British zoologist and collector Louis Fraser. He coined the binomial name Psittacus timneh and specified the type locality as "Timneh country, Sierra Leone". The Temne are an ethnic group that are predominantly found in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. The Timneh parrot was formerly classified as a subspecies of the grey parrot but is now treated as a separate species based on the results of a genetic and morphological study published in 2007.<p>Two subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Psittacus timneh
- Authority
- Fraser, 1844
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
- Genus
- Psittacus
Range and habitat
The Timneh parrot is endemic to the western parts of the moist Upper Guinean forests and bordering savannas of West Africa from Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and southern Mali eastwards to at least 70 km east of the Bandama River in Ivory Coast. There is no natural range overlap with the grey parrot although, as both taxa are common in aviculture, escapes can occur and hybridization between greys and Timnehs has been observed in captivity. The birds typically inhabit dense forest, but are also seen at forest edges and in clearings, in gallery forest along waterways, savanna woodland and mangroves. Though they are sometimes found in cultivated areas and gardens, it is not clear whether these habitats contain self-sustaining populations; the birds may make seasonal movements out of the driest parts of their range in the dry season.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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