Brown-headed Parrot ( Poicephalus cryptoxanthus, family: psittacidae)

The Brown-headed Parrot (Latin name Poicephalus cryptoxanthus) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 363 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 224 also a picture of the Brown-headed Parrot on page 256. The Brown-headed Parrot belongs to the family of birds classified as psittacidae.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Brown-headed Parrot is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Brown-headed Parrot in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Brown-headed Parrot : see above distribution map.

Brown Headed parrot Kruger ParkThe Brown-headed Parrot is a bird about the same size as a starling. The height of the Brown-headed Parrot is about 25 cms and its weight is about 145 gms

The male and female Brown-headed Parrot have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is brown.
  • Eye is green.
  • Bill is grey.
  • Throat is yellow.
  • Back is brownish green.
  • Legs are grey.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Brown-headed Parrot feeds in tree and shrub foliage mainly. In the photo above taken near Pretoriuskop you can see the parrot has split open a seed pod and removed a seed for eating.

Fruits

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Brown-headed Parrot is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Poicephalus cryptoxanthus will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Brown-headed Parrot is to create the nest in a hole in a tree trunk. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 2 to 4

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Brown-headed Parrot are: woodlands

You will normally see the Brown-headed Parrot in small flocks.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Bruinkoppapegaai

German ... Braunkopfpapagei

Portuguese ... Papagaio-de-cabea-castanha

French ... Perroquet tte brune

Dutch ... Bruinkoppapegaai

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 363

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za