Meyer's Parrot

About the Meyer's Parrot

Meyer's parrot (Poicephalus meyeri), also known as the brown parrot, is a species of parrot native to Africa. A Meyer's parrot has black 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.

German physician and ornithologist Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar described Meyer's parrot in 1827. The name commemorates the German ornithologist Bernhard Meyer. 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, 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... Wikipedia →