Meyer's Parrots
Poicephalus Parrots
The Meyer's Parrot (Poicephalus meyeri) is a small (about 21 cm), stocky African parrot. Meyer's parrots display a dull brown head, back, and tail, green abdomen, blue rump, and yellow thighs.
Forshaw (1989) recognizes six subspecies of P. meyeri, which vary in home range, in size, and in markings, including extent of yellow markings on the head and wings and intensity of turquoise markings on the abdomen or rump.
Meyer's parrots are native to central and eastern sub-Saharan Africa. They have adapted to many woodland habitats, including savannah woodlands, wooded grasslands, and forests bordering watercourses or agricultural land. Though they normally travel in pairs or small flocks, wild Meyer's parrots may gather in larger numbers when food is plentiful. Their wild diet includes fruits, seeds, nuts, berries, and cultivated crops.
Unlike many species of birds, Meyer's parrots are common in the wild. The IUCN Red List classifies the Meyer's parrot as Low Risk/Least Concern. The large population, limited pressure from trade and hunting, and 6,000,000 km^2 home range of the species make these birds unlikely to face extinction in the near future. Meyer's parrots are listed on Appendix II of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.
The name commemorates the German ornithologist Bernhard Meyer.
Copyright: Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia.org
Care and Feeding:
Meyer's Parrots love to climb and play and need to be provided with a cage that allows them to move around freely and toys to entertain themselves with. Please refer to the following websites for information:
- Sources for Purchasing or Adopting your Companion or Aviary Birds
- Canada: Saskatchewan, Owner: Gay Noeth - Website: On AfricanWings
- Are you a breeder and would like to be listed? Please contact webmaster for info. - Optimal nutrition to keep your bird healthy
- Housing your bird / Fun & Safe Toys
- Caring for your companion bird
Training and Behavioral Guidance:
Pet parrots generally present challenges, such as excessive chewing - especially at certain stages in their life. They do discover their beaks as method of "disciplining us" once they are out of the "baby stage" and they can generally be somewhat naughty, and it really is important to learn to understand them and to guide their behavior before an undesirable behavior has been established. Undisciplined parrots will chew on electric wiring potentially causing house fires. They regard anything in your home as a "toy" that can be explored and chewed on; destroying items that you may hold dear or are simply valuable. Even a young bird that has not been neglected and abused requires proper guidance; this becomes even more challenging when it involves a rescued bird that may require rehabilitation.
- Web Resources: I put together web resources for you to help you understand your pet bird and properly direct him. Please visit this website for valuable tips on parrot behavior and training.
- If you are, as I am, a visual learner and prefer step-by-step instructions to train your pet, I recommend:
- the Parrot Training Course to teach your parrot to:
- Stop Biting
- Perform Tricks &
- Tame ANY SIZE bird you could possibly own
- and/or try the "Teach Your Parrot to Talk" Training Course.
- the Parrot Training Course to teach your parrot to:
Species: Scientific: Poicephalus meyeri meyeri ... English: Meyer's Parrot ... Dutch: Meyers Papegaai ... German: Goldbugpapagei, Meyers Papagei ... French: Perroquet de Meyer
Description: Head, back and upper breast greyish-brown; almost all birds with yellow feathers forming a band on crown; lower breast, abdomen and under tail-coverts generally bluish-grey, in some birds turquoise; lower back and rump light blue to bright light blue (not bluish-green as described by several authors); bend of wing, under wing-coverts and thighs yellow; wing-coverts and flight feathers dark greyish-brown; tail upperside brown, underside dark grey; periophthalmic ring black; bill black; iris orange-red; feet dark grey. Female as male. Immatures greenish-brown without yellow crown and thighs; lower breast and abdomen green; yellow on bend of wing less extensive; under wing-coverts brownish-green and interspersed with yellow; lower back blue; iris dark brown (red in one breeding result in aviculture); adult plumage attained by 12 months. 
Length: 21 cm (8 ins), wing length 141 - 149 mm (5.5 - 6 ins)
CITES II - Endangered Species Distribution: Southern Chad, northeast Cameroon, Central African Republic, southern Sudan and western Ethiopia.
Related Websites: Lexicon of Parrots ... Meyer's Parrot ... Oiseau on Day Care ... Tinker the Ultimate Meyers ... Aves International.
Sub-species:
Angola Brown Parrots: Species: Scientific: Poicephalus meyeri reichenowi ... English: Angola Brown Parrot ... Dutch: Angola Meyers Papegaai ... German: Angola- Goldbuchpapagei ... French: Perroquet de Reichenow
Description: As meyeri, but greyish-brown of head and upper breast much darker and blackish (not dark brown as described by some authors); back and wing-coverts blackish; lower back and rump bright light blue to blue; lower breast and abdomen vary from turquoise to light blue; abdomen plumage very interspersed with black in most birds; yellow to crown absent; larger. Length: 24 cm (9.5 ins), wing length 148 - 174 mm (6 - 7 ins)
CITES II - Endangered Species Distribution: Northern and central Angola as well as adjacent areas of Congo.
Related Websites: Lexicon of Parrots (Please scroll down to no. 5 - click on link to view photo.)
Damaraland Brown Parrots: Species: Scientific: Poicephalus meyeri damarensis ... English: Damaraland Brown Parrot ... Dutch: Damaraland Meyers Papegaai ... German: Damaraland-Goldbuchpapagei ... French: Perroquet de Meyer laterre Damara
CITES II - Endangered Species Distribution: Southern Angola, northern and central Namibia and northwest Botswana; overlaps with transvaalensis in Okavango Region, Botswana
Description: As meyeri, but greyish-brown of head and upper breast more
dark grey; back and wing-coverts lighter blackish; lower back and rump light blue; lower breast and abdomen turquoise; yellow to crown absent; slightly larger. Length: 22 cm (8.5 ins), wing length 149 - 160 mm (6 - 6.25 ins)
Related Websites: Lexicon of Parrots (Please scroll down to no. 6 - click on link to view photo.)
East African Brown Parrots: Species: Scientific: Poicephalus meyeri matchiei ... English: East African Brown Parrot ... Dutch: Oost-Afrikaanse Meyers Papegaai German: Ostafrikanischer Goldbugpapagei
Description: As meyeri, but greyish-brown of head and upper breast slightly darker; back and wing-coverts blackish; lower back and rump bright light blue; lower breast and abdomen vary from turquoise to light blue; yellow feathers present on crown; on average slightly larger. Length: 22 cm (8.5 ins), wing length 142 - 160 mm (5.5 - 6 ins)
CITES II - Endangered Species Distribution: Southeast Kenya, Tanzania, northern Malawi, Zambia and southeast Congo
Related Websites: Lexicon of Parrots (Please scroll down to no. 3 - click on link to view photo.)
South African Brown Parrots: Species: Scientific: Poicephalus meyeri transvaalensis ... English: South African Brown Parrot ... Dutch: Zuid-Afrikaanse Meyers Papegaai ... German: Südafrikanischer Goldbugpapagei ... French: Perroquet Transvaal de Meyer
Description: As meyeri, but greyish-brown of head and upper breast darker and more brownish (not paler brown or lighter as described by some authors); back and wing-coverts blackish; lower back and rump greenish with distinct light blue to bright light blue feathering; lower breast and abdomen greener and uniform turquoise; yellow to crown present in almost all birds; on average slightly larger; this sub-species differs from saturatus only by greenish-light blue rump. Length: 22 cm (8.5 ins), wing length 142 - 160 mm (5.5 - 6 ins)
CITES II - Endangered Species Distribution: Northeast Mozambique, Zimbabwe and eastern Lesotho; isolated population in Cape Province, South Africa probably originated from escaped birds.
Related Websites: Lexicon of Parrots (Please scroll down to no. 4 - click on link to view photo.
Uganda Yellow-shouldered Parrots aka Kenya Meyer, Meyer's Parrots: Species: Scientific: Poicephalus meyeri saturatus ... English: Uganda Yellow-shouldered Parrot ... Dutch: Oeganda Meyers Papegaai ... German: Uganda Goldbugpapagei ... French: Perroquet Uganda de Meyer
Description: As meyeri, but greyish-brown of head and upper breast darker and more blackish; back and wing-coverts blackish; lower back and rump light blue (not green washed with pale blue as described by some authors); lower breast and abdomen much greener; varies from turquoise to green; yellow feathers to crown present; on average slightly larger. Length: 22 cm (8.5 ins), wing length 144 - 158 mm (5.5 - 6 ins)
CITES II - Endangered Species Distribution: Central and eastern Africa
Related Websites: Lexicon of Parrots (Please scroll down to no. 2 - click on link to view photo.)
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