Cape Parrot ( Poicephalus robustus, family: psittacidae)

cape parrot kruger national park birds The Cape Parrot (Latin name Poicephalus robustus) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 362 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 221 also a picture of the Cape Parrot on page 256. The Cape Parrot belongs to the family of birds classified as psittacidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Cape Parrot is also known by these other names: Brown-necked Parrot+G274, Levaillant's Parrot.

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

Endemic species is one that is confined to a specific country or region. For example certain birds endemic to South Africa only exist in that country. One such example is the Cape Parrot and this species depends upon a particular habitat for survival. Destroy that habitat and the bird will possibly be lost forever.

In terms of distribution of the Cape Parrot in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Cape Parrot has been recorded in only 1 sections of the arbitrary Kruger Park regions I selected.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The height of the Cape Parrot is about 30 cms and its weight is about 300 gms

You will find that the male Cape Parrot plumage and colours are different to that of the female Cape Parrot

  • Head is brown.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is ivory.
  • Throat is yellow.
  • Back is blue, green.
  • Legs are blue, grey.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Cape Parrot feeds in tree and shrub foliage mainly

Fruits

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Cape Parrot is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Poicephalus robustus will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Cape 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 5

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Cape Parrot are: forests and heavily treed regions

You will normally see the Cape Parrot in flocks.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Isikhwenene

Zulu ... isiKhwenene

Afrikaans ...Woudpapegaai

German ... Kappapagei

Portuguese ... Papagaio-de-bico-grosso

French ... Perroquet robuste

Dutch ... Kaapse Papegaai

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

Robert's 7th edition number ... 362

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