Habits
Shy and wary. In pairs or groups of up to 50 at food sources.
Food
Fruits, nuts and seeds. Some leguminous tree seeds. Also grain, some insects, including caterpillars.
Voice
A loud, piercing 'chee-chee-chee-chee'. Various other screeches and squawks. Birds in flight duet with one another. Growling call can rise to shrieking cry when alarmed. Flocks emit chorus of excitement calls.
Meyer's Parrot (Poicephalus meyeri) [XC396347]
by Bernard BOUSQUET from Kolwezi, Katanga, Congo (Democratic Republic) (call)
Meyer's Parrot (Poicephalus meyeri) [XC687354]
by Oliver Fowler from Blouberg Local Municipality (near Tokio), Central, Limpopo, South Africa (call)
Eggs (Guide)
Clutch Size: 2 - 4
Color: glossy
Dimensions: 25 x 20 mm (oval)
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Ruppell's Parrot (Poicephalus rueppellii), Brown-headed Parrot (Poicephalus cryptoxanthus) and Niam-niam Parrot (Poicephalus crassus), and possibly others. Much intergradation between subspecies, and also variation within each, indicating need for revision.
The following 6 subspecies are recognised:
meyeri (Cretzschmar, 1827) - North-eastern Cameroon through southern Chad, northern Central African Republic and northern Zaire to southern Sudan and western Ethiopia.
saturatus Sharpe, 1901 - Western Kenya and Uganda to eastern Zaire, Rwanda, Burundi and north-western Tanzania.
matschiei Neumann, 1898 - South-eastern Zaire and western and central Tanzania to eastern Angola, northern Zambia and northern Malawi.
reichenowi Neumann, 1898 - Western Angola.
damarensis Neumann, 1898 - Southern Angola, northern and central Namibia and north-western Botswana.
transvaalensis Neumann, 1899 - Southern Zambia and northern Mozambique, through eastern Botswana and Zimbabwe to northern South Africa.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet