Saturday, 26 May 2018

1-4-2018 EDEN PLETTENBERG BAY, SOUTH AFRICA - LESSER JARDINE PARROT (Poicephalus gulielmi) COURTESY OF MRS VALERIE FISHER


The red-fronted parrot (Poicephalus gulielmi), also known as Jardine's parrot, is a medium-sized mainly green parrot distributed across wide areas of Africa. It has three subspecies. The extent and shade of the red or orange plumage on its head, thighs, and bend of wings vary depending on the subspecies.

They are popular as pets, partly because of their ability to mimic speech and copy sounds. Trapping of wild birds for the pet trade is a potential threat to wild populations; however, they are protected by CITES (appendix II) making the trade, import and export of all wild-caught parrots illegal.


The red-fronted parrot nests in tree cavities. The eggs are white and there are usually three or four in a clutch. The female incubates the eggs for about 27 days and the chicks leave the nest about 80 days after hatching.

They fly swiftly making noisy calls above the forest in pairs or small groups between their night-time roosts and feeding grounds. They feed quietly in the upper canopy of trees, where they are well camouflaged.

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