Brown-necked Parrot
Poicephalus fuscicollis
Large, dark green parrot. Note the red patches on the shoulder and thighs. The head can be pale brown or gray, and the underparts green or blue-green. Found at varied elevations in forest, thick woodland, plantations, and lush savanna. Call is a shriek that is surprisingly high-pitched for such a robust bird. No range overlap with Cape Parrot. Similar to Red-fronted Parrot but has a paler head.
Identification
The largest member of its genus, the brown-necked parrot has a relatively large head and bill, and stocky build. It has a light grey head. The nominate subspecies fuscicollis has a bluer sheen to its plumage than suahelicus. The upperparts are yellow-green and underparts greenish.
Taxonomy
German naturalist Heinrich Kuhl described the brown-necked parrot in his 1819 work Conspectus Psittacorum. Although unsure of its country of origin, he felt it was definitely a distinct species and related to the Cape parrot. The species name is from the Latin words fuscus "dark" and collum "neck".<p>South Africa-based ornithologist Phillip Clancey proposed the Cape and brown-necked parrots were separate species in 1997 based on the shape and size of the bill, head coloration and preferred habitat. Mike Perrin observed that species status would facilitate protection of the endangered Cape parrot. Genetic analysis of the three taxa published in 2015 supported the distinctness of brown-necked and cape parrots, showing that ancestors of the two had diverged between 2.13 and 2.67 million years ago—in the late Pliocene to early Pleistocene epoch. This period was a period of changes in climate, where grassland and forest were expanding and contracting, which led to isolation and eventually speciation of separate populations.<p>The old name for the three taxa was Cape parrot, with virtually all the individuals in captivity belonging to what became P. fuscicollis. Jean Pattison called them Uncape parrots because of this.
- Scientific name
- Poicephalus fuscicollis
- Authority
- (Kuhl, 1820)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
- Genus
- Poicephalus
Range and habitat
Subspecies fuscicollis is found in west Africa from Gambia and southern Senegal to Ghana and Togo. Locally common in places, it appears to have declined in Senegal and Gambia. Subspecies suahelicus is found in southern Africa from southern Congo and Tanzania to northern Namibia and south to northern South Africa.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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