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Brown Headed Parrot
Brown Headed parrots or Poicephalus cryptoxanthus is a green bird having an attractive brown grey head. They are native to the eastern South Africa and are found in different parts of South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Mali, Zimbabwe, Zululand, and the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba.
Brown heads are small size parrots, with about 9 inches long, together with the short tail. Brown headed looks similar to Senegal bird but does not feature a colored belly. They have an au fond whitish beak and has black on the tip of the upper mandible. Some birds have more of black color while some have less, depending on the individual. You can find some brown heads having yellow eyes and others have a dark and grayish yellow. The adult Brown Headed parrots have light gray eyes. All adolescent brown heads have dark gray or rather black eyes.
Brown heads bear a brown shade of gray that fades after some time in green color on the neck. The bird features yellow under the wings at the front which comes into full sight properly when the bird goes in flight. Their yellow color has given a scientific name to the brown head, cryptoxanthus, which literally means 'hidden yellow'.
There are three species of Brown headed parrots known as Poicephalus cryptoxanthus cryptoxanthus, P. c. tanganyikae and P. c. zanzibaricus. The cryptoxanthus range from eastern Zululand to southern Mozambique; tanganyikae come from the east coast that stretches from Kenya down by southern Mozambique; and cryptoxanthus is only found on the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba.
These sub species have a very little difference. The tanganyikae can be differentiated with its pale color, it is a yellowish green bird as compared to the nominate race cryptoxanthus. On the other hand, zanzibaricus is said to be a little large in size than tanganyikae, but more or less they are identical.
The hand reared Brown Headed parrots make for ideal pets. They even seem to be less apt to nip as they are not very colorful. They are shy in behavior. Most of the owners feel that the Brown Headed parrots are a lot quieter than the other birds which belong to the Poicephalus group. They are not known to speak or reproduce noises.
Brown Headed parrots make good family pets and love to be cared and handled with love. Their playful nature makes them entertaining whether in or out of cage. They should be given plenty of toys and playpens. If you live in an apartment, Brown Headed parrots are suitable for you as they have quiet nature and can live in a small sized cage.
Feeding on Brown Headed parrots is done by a variety of seeds, berries nuts, and also takes nectar. When made pet, they can be provided similar food as of the Senegal parrots. They should be given less millet and canary seed. They like open walnuts which they not only eat but also enjoy playing with it. Orange and Pine nuts is their favorite fruit.
Brown heads are considered mature at about 2 years old and breed only after they attain 3 to 4 years of age. They breed in winter months and lay normally two to three eggs.