Conservation Status of African Parrots

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The Conservation StatusofMricanParrots: A

Review fortheWorldParrotTrust.Part1 byRogerWilkinson Africaanditsoutlyingislandsarehometo aroundtwodozenparrotspecies.

Theexactnumberdepends onwhosetaxonomy isfollowedandfor that reason it isimportantthatwelldifferentiated forms,somecurrentlyvariouslytreatedasspecies or assub-species, areincludedin anycurrent conservation assessment.

Africanparrotsbelongtofivegeneraofwhichfour,Psittaeus, Poieephalus, A~apomis andCoraeopsis arerestrictedtotheAfricanregionwith Coracopsls endemic toMadagascar.

Thefifth genusPsittacula ismamlyAsiatIcwithonerepresentative onmainland AfricaandoneonMauritius.

Althoughtheimportance ofAfricaasa centrefor parrotsismoreconcerned withtheendemic statusofthefirstfourgenera thanwithitstotalparrot diversityin termsofcurrentspecies conservation it istheEchoParakeet Psittaeula echowhichisthemostcriticallythreatened.

Thisreportreviews thewildstatusofAfricanparrotsasassessed froma reviewof thescientificliteratureandwhereavailable addsmorerecent information fromcorrespondents.

Formanyparrotsthereisrelativelylittlepublished informationontheirbiologyandwildstatus.Thisisthecasefor mostAfricanParrotsand especially thecasefor parrotsin WestandCentralAfrica.

Thewelcome upsurge in parrotresearch in thesouthern halfofAfricaoverthelastfewyearshaslargel~beentheresultofMikePerrin'sinitiativesin recruitingresearchers andfoundin~theResearch CentreforAfricanParrotConservation at theUniversIty ofNatal,SouthAfrica.Somerecentworkis alreadysuggesting thatparrotswhIchuntilrecentlywereconsidered common arenowmuchmorerestrictedin theirdistributionor occurat Iow densities.

Trappingfor theaviculturalandpettradehasoccurredonasignificant scaleovermanyyearsfor GreyParrotsPsittaeus erithaeus andSenegal ParrotsPoieephalus senegalus apparently withoutmajorimpactontheirglobalconservation status.However therearesuggestions thattherelatively recentincrease in exploitation ofotherspecies asindicatedbytherenewed tradein previously unfashionable Poieephalus maybedepleting somewild populations.

Whetherrecentattempts tolegitimise tradebyranchingwill leadtoacceptable sustainable exploitation or increase theproblemby masking illegaltradingandprovidmganopportunityfor laundering remainsuncertam.

Thisreview,writtenbyabIologistnolongerworkingin Africa,hasreliedgreatlyontheoftenscantpublished literatureandthe~enerosity of those workerswhogavemorerecentinformation.

If thereviewserves onlyto stimulatethosewithspecialist knowledge toindicateomissIons or errorsin the followin~species accounts thenit will havebeenuseful.It ishopedthatit mayalsohelpindicatewhereresearch isstillneeded, especially asregards parrotdIstributionandpopulation estimates, servetoengender discussion aboutconservation prioritiesandstimulatefurtherworkonthebiologyof AfricanParrots.

GREATERVASAPARROT Coracopsis vasa GreaterVasaParrotsareendemic to Madagascar andtheComoros Islands.Twosubspecies occuron Madagascar with thedarker,larger Coracopsis vasavasain theeast intergrading withthepalerwestern C. vasadrouhardi.TheComoros subspecies C.vasacomorensis whichoccursonGrandComoro, MoheliandAnjouan,differsin beingsmallerandpalerwithbrown ratherthangreyunder-tailcoverts.

Contemporary accounts indicate GreaterVasaParrotsto becommon or fairly commononMadagascar wheretheywereonceverycommon or abundant (Dee1986,Langrand 1990).Greater VasaParrotson Madagascar areontheGovernment list of harmfulanimalsbeing considered to damagericeand maizecrops.Theyarehuntedfor foodandcapturedaspets.

Between1983and1988nearly 3,000GreaterVasaParrotswere exportedfromMadagascar to CITEScountries(Thomsen et al 1992)andca500importedintothe D.S.A..SinceFebruary1995an importbanonGreaterVasaParrots fromMadagascar intotheEuropean Communityhasbeenimposedby theE.c. CITESCommittee.

Howeverconcernremainsthatthese parrotscontinueto behuntedand trappedonMadagascar andthat levelsof exploitationmaybe excessive (McBride1996,Collar 6

Young Greater Vasa Parrot in the wild.

1998).

Bothracesof theGreaterVasa ParrotonMadagascar andthe subspecies ontile Comoroswere listedasvulnerable/safein the seconddraft!UCN/ Birdlife InternationalParrotActionplan (Lambertet ai, unpublished).

The biologyof GreaterVasaParrots particularlywith regardto their socialorganisation andbreeding

Photo: P. McBride

system deserves longtermstudyin thewild(Wilkinson 1994a, Wilkinson andBirkhead 1995)butit wouldbepresently difficultto justifythisasanimmediate conservation priority.

LESSERVASAPARROTor BLACK PARROTCoracopsis nigra LesserVasaParrotsoccuron Madagascar, theComorosand

PraslinIslandin theSeychelles.

On Madagascar thenominate Coraeopsis nigranigraoccupiesthe morehumideasternregions intergradingwiththeJ}alerC.n. fibs of thedrierwest.ThePraslinBlack ParrotC.n. barklyi andthe ComorosformC.n. sibilans,found on GrandComoroandAnjouan,are markedlysmallerandarguably couldbetreatedasaseparate species.

Thesetwolatterformsare tliemselves rathersimilarandmay notbedistinctfromeachother (Gaymeret aI1969).Clearlythe taxonomyof thisgroupshouldbe addressed because of tile important conservation implications.

LesserVasaParrotsareconsidered to becommononMadagascarand, like theGreaterVasaParrot,are listed ontheGovernment list of harmfulanimalsandhuntedasfood andcapturedfor pets.Between1983 and1989some2500LesserVasa Parrotimportswerereportedto the CITES authorities (Thomsen etal 1992).AlthoughLesserVasaParrots wouldcurrentlyappearsafetheir statusshouldbeperiodically monitoredasthismaybenegatively affectedby thelevelof huntingand by therapidrateof forestlosson Madagascar (Snyderetai, in press).

ThePraslinBlackParrotC.n. barklyihasa smallbutpresently stablepopulationcentredon the ValleedeMai CocodeMerreserve.

Theentirepopulationis estimated at only70-100birds(CollarandSmart 1985,Collar1998)andtogether

withitsveryrestricted distribution mustbeconsidered endangered.

Wilkinson(1994b)reportedbeing concerned andpuzzledthat44 C.n. barklyiwererecordedasimported intoCITEScountriesin 1983and 1984ashewasunawareof any havingbeenheldin captivity outsidePraslin.Thismaysimply haveresulted fromerrorsof reporting.

TheCITESannualreport datacompiledby theWorld Conservation MonitoringCentre indicates all wereimportedby the USAwith30fromMadagascar via Belgium,8 fromBelgium (including4 listed ascaptive bred!)and6 fromGhanavia Sweden (D.W Morgan,T. Mullikenpers comm).

Informationonthecurrentstatus andsizesof theComorosIslandC. n.sibilanspopulations wouldbe desirable, notleastbecause of the suggested similarityof thisformto theendangered PraslinBlackParrot.

The1997exportquotafor Sierra Leonewas1,000,for Guinea450 (bothP.e.timneh),andfor Zaire 10,000.A zeroexportquotawas indicatedfor Cameroon for 1997.

For 1996(&1995)exportquotasof GreyParrotsfor Cameroon were 12,000,for Ghana5,000,for Guinea 450,andfor Zaire10,000.Thelarge exportquotafor theseyearsfor Ghanais surprisingassometen yearsearlierit wasconsidered to be localanduncommon because of illegaltrade(Grimes1987).

Therearetwowelldifferentiated subspecies, thesmallerdarker

(ChesterZoo)andWA.O.S.(West AfricanOrnithologicalSociety).The resultsof thisstudyareawaited.

Fromaconservation perspective thereis no concernoversubspecies andconservation needsarelocalto particulargeopoliticalunits.In summaryit seemsthatGreyParrots generallyremaincommonIII the centreof theirlargerangebut are locallyendangered on theedgeof theirrange.Tradeshouldcontinue to bemonitoredandin those countrieswheretherehavebeen recentpopulationdeclinesthe possibilitiesof conservation action

GREYPARROTPsittacuserithacus AfricanGreyParrotsarewidely distributed andregardedascommon to abundant in rainforests and mangroves of WestandCentral AfricafromSierraLeonewestto Zaire(FryetaI1988).

GreyParrots areespeciallyfondof oil-palmfruits,andoccasionally maizewhentheycouldthenbe considered apest.Howeverthere arenoreportsof directpersecution ofAfricanGreyParrotsascrop pestsalthoughlargenumbersare collected for thepettrade.

AlthoughFryetal (1988)argue thatthereappears to benoevidence of reduction in numbersdueto trappingexceptneartowns thereis concern thatsomepopulations have beenreduced.

Grimes(1987) regards thespeciesasuncommon andlocalin Ghanawhereit is now mainlyconfinedto forestreserves.

Whilstflocksof 500-1000African GreyParrotswerereportedfrom Ghanain the1940'sonlytwo'sand three'swererecordedatBia in the 1970's;illegalexportfor thewild birdtradeis heldasthemainreason forthisdecline.In Nigeriathe AfricanGreyParrotis localbutnot uncommon III maturehighforest andmangroves butnumbersare decliningthroughhuman persecutIOn andforestdestruction (ElgoodetaI1994).Grey Parrots wereformerlyfairly commonin Kakamega andNandiforestsin western Kenyawherecontinuing forestdestruction andresultantloss of nest-sites hasresultedin theonly remaining population in Kakamega beingreduced to fewerthanten birds(Zimmerman et aI1996).

A pair of wild-caughtCapeParrotsP.robustus,beingkeptas 'pets'in S.Africa. With a populationof only 1000-2000,this is mostregrettable.

P.e.timneh in forestswestof the Bandama Riverin Ivory Coastwest to SierraLeone,andthenominate larger"silver"P.e.erithacuseast fromtheBandama Riverto Kenya.

Thiollay(1985)notes"thereis no gapbetweenthetwosubspecies erithacusandtimnehsupposed to comein contactalongtheBandama River".Thissuggests to methatthe twotaxamayonreview/further research becandidates to become accepted asfull species.

ParrotsfromBiokoandPrincipe, Gulf of Guinea,formerlyseparated asP.e.princepsonthesuggestion of darkerplumage(Forshaw1989) areconsidered to beinsufficiently distinctonexamination of British Museumspecimens andincluded withP.e.erithacus(FryetaI1988).

Currentresearch onthefeeding ecologyof GreyParrotsin Cameroon is beingpresented asa PhDthesisbyAwaforTamungang (Universityof Ibadan,Nigeria) supported in partby N.E.Z.S.

mayneedto beinvestigated ata nationallevel.

BROWN-NECKEDPARROTor CAPEPARROTPoicephalus robustus Thetaxonomictreatmentof Brown-necked or CapeParrotshas importantconsequences if conservation resources areto be prioritisedfor specieswith less concernbeinggivenfor subspecies.

Thethreetaxarobustus,suahe/icus andfuscicollisaretogether considered asa singlespeciesby mostauthors(Fryet a11988) althoughtherehasbeena recent moveto treattheCapeParrotP.r. robustusasa separate full species (Perrinperscomm.).Thisis contradicted

by Dowsettand Dowsett-Lemaire (1993)whonote thevoicesof suahe/icus and robustusto beidenticalandconsider thedifferences in morphology betweenthemto beof onlyracial

importance.

Although morphological differentiationmay beslight robustusis separated from suahe/icus by headcolour,bill size, andhabitatpreference (Fryet al 1988,Snow1978,Low 1997a)and wouldbeworthyof conservation attentionevenasawell differentiated subspecies.

Suahe/icus andjuscicollisare geographically distantbutmore similarto eachother morphologicallyandin sharing similarwoodedsavanna habitats.

They arealsolinkedin thatthe isolatedLowerRiverCongo populationof suahelicus is Illtermediate betweenthemain populationof suahe/icus and fuscicollis.

Notwithstanding thesimilarities betweensuahe/icus andfuscicollisit maybeprudentto focus conservation attentiononthelatter whichis generallyscarcewith the mainpopulations centredin wooded savannas in Ivory CoastandGhana andlocalpopulations in the Gambia.TheGambianpopulationis largelyrestrictedto KiangWest NationalParkwith sightingsacross theriverfrommangroveforestin Bao-bolonWetlandReserve.

This populationhasalow densityandis thoughtto besedentary.

Recorded alsoIII thevicinitiesof Pirang, Marakissa,andGambiaRiver NationalParkthereis concernthat thisparrothasdeclinedin the Gambia(Barlow,Wacherand Disley 1997,Murphy,Barlowetal 1997).Populationestimates anda betterunderstanding of the distributionandmovements of fuscicollis(it is saidto beacasual visitorto Nigeria)wouldbe essentialto betterassessing its currentstatus.

Suahelicus appears to be widespread andalthoughsparse overmuchof its rangeis not presentlyaconservation priority.

Workby Mike Perrin'steamon robustus,whichoncurrent knowledgeis themostcritically endangered form,shouldclearly continueto besupported.

RED-FRONTED PARROTor JARDINE'SPARROTPoicephalus gulielmi Thisparrotoccursin primary forest.Threesubspecies are recognised: thenominateP.g. gu/ielmi,frequentin lowlandforest fromCameroon andAngolathrough Zaireto montaneforestsof southwestUganda;P.g. masaicus, locally abundantin montaneforestsof KenyaandTanzania(Fryet al 1988);andP.g.fantiensiswhichis arareandlocalbreederin Ivory 7

Coast(Thiollay1985)andGhana, andalsooccursin Liberia(Dowsett andForbes-Watson 1993).

The1997exportquotasfor Togo was50birds,andthosefor Guinea andTanzania werebothzero suggesting thatinternational legal tradeis presentlyverysmall.(Large numbersof wild-caughtbirdshave beenimportedintoEuropeduring thepastcouplesof years- Ed).

HoweverCollar(1998)indicatesup to 16,000mayhavebeenin trade between1987and1993andthat year-round trappingonMt. Kilimanjaromayleadto local extinction.

Red-fronted Parrotsarealso locallythreatened in Kenyathrough lossof primaryforestasaresultof deforestation (Collar1998).

Althoughstill locallycommonand widespread in EastAfrica,this species wouldbenefitfrom populationmonitoring.

In WestAfricafantiensisis rare andlocalandmaybeof conservation concernbut asa poorlydifferentiated subspecies this maynotbeapriority.However coupledwith astudyof P ~ fuscicollisapopulationassessment of Pg. fantiensisin Ivory Coastand Ghanawouldcertainlybeof West Africaninterest.RenatoMassa (pers.comm.)suggests thatthe numberof Jardine'sParrots remainingin KakumNationalPark, Ghana,maybeasIowas"a few pairs".

MEYER'SPARROTPoicephalus meyen Meyer'sParrotis a commonand widelydistributedresidentin savanna woodlandoccurringfrom Chad,CentralAfricanRepublic, Sudan,EthiopiaandEritreasouth throughUganda,Kenyaand Tanzania, Zaire,Rwanda,Burundi, Angola,Zambia,Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Namibiato SouthAfrica.

Numbersandrangein Transvaalare nowmuchreduced(Collar1998).

Meyer'sParrotis considered a pest in Zambezi,whereit competes with peoplefor Ziziphusberries,andin Angolawhereit takescrops.It is nowscarceandlocalin Transvaal whereit waspreviouslyapestof orangeorchardsandcerealcrops (Collar1998).

Althoughthisandother Poicephalus werepreviouslyin little demandfor thecage-birdtrade significantnumberswere traded throughthe1980'swith recorded annualexportsfromTanzania peakingatjust under12,000in 1987 but declimngto lessthan1200in 1990(EdwardsandBroad1992).

The1997exportquotafor Mozambique wasfor 100ranched specimens.

In someareas,e.g.the Transvaal, numbershavedeclined dueto habitatdestruction (Fryetal 1988).

Fivesubspecies, differingmainly in sizeandshade,arerecognised by Fry et al (1988).Thisspecieswould appearto bepresentlysafebutmay besubjectto localhuntingpressure.

SENEGALPARROTPoicephalus senegalus TheSenegalParrotis a common WestAfricanparrotoccurringfrom SenegalandGambiawest

"probablyfrequentto commonin its little exploredrange".

TheNIam-NiamParrotoccursin forest-savanna mosaicandis virtuallyrestrictedto theCentral AfricanRepublicalthough extendingwestintosouthwest Chadandeastbarelyintonorth westZaireandsouthernSudan.Its biologyis verypoorlyknownwith no informationonits breeding habits.Thereis no suggestion of recentrangecontractionbut Carroll(1988)in themostrecent reviewof birdsof theCentral AfricanRepublicliststhespecies asuncommonwithbirdsrarely

4700birdsin 1986;lessthan600 beingreportedfor 1990(Edwards andBroad1992).Although Tanzaniaindicatednoexportquota for Poicephalus rufiventrisfor 1994 some,whichhadbeencaptured underthe 1993quota,were exportedin 1994(Rosserand Milliken 1995).Zeroquotasfor exportfromTanzaniawere setfor 1995,1996and1997.

Twosubspecies of Poicephalus rufiventrisarerecognised withthe northernpopulations P ~pallidus beingpaler.Neitherwouldpresently appearto meritpriorityconservation actionalthoughthereis some concernthatpopulationdensities maybelowerthangenerally believed.RenatoMassaand colleagues (Mass a 1995,Venuto et al in press)madestudiesof RedbelliedParrotsin TarangireNational Park,Kenya,in February1993and Massa(perscomm)suggests that theirnumbersin Tarangiremaybe "in theorderof magnitude of hundreds".

Meyer'sParrotP.meyeri.Photofrom 'Parrotsin Aviculture- a photographicguide' by RosemaryLow andRon& Val Moat.

throughoutsavanna woodlandto NigeriaandnorthernCameroon.

SenegalParrotsarewidespread and commonin Nigeria(Elgoodet al 1994)andin Ghanawherethey haverecentlyincreased in coastal areas(Grimes1987,Fry etaI1988).

Althoughpopularasa cage-bird, with for exampleca40,000 exportedfromSenegal in 1990 (EdwardsandBiteye1992),the populations appearrobustandthere ISnoevidencethatthetradeis unsustainable (FryetaI1988).

The1997,1996and1995export quotasfor Senegal weresetat 16,000birdsandfor Togoat 300.

ThreeracesP s.senegalus, P s. versteriandP s.mesotypus are recognised butnoneappearisolated or of obviousconservatIOn concern.

NIAM-NIAM PARROT Poicephalus crassus Thestatusof theNiam-Niam Parrotis uncertainalthoughFry et al (1988)venturedthatit is

observedin theManovo-GoundaSaintFlorisNationalParkbutalso recordedin theLobayePrefecture.

Carrollwarnsthatchangingland useandtheincreasinguseof pesticideswith fellingof forestsand selectiveloggingwill havedrastic consequences for thelocalavifauna.

Thisindicatesit is importantto determineandcontinueto monitor thes.tatus of thisrestrictedrange species.

RED-BELLIEDPARROT Poicephalus rufiventris Thisparrotis anEastAfrican endemicin dry woodedsavanna fromEthiopiaandSomaliasouth throughKenyato Northern Tanzania, whereit is reportedas fairly commonandwidespread (Zimmerrnan eta11996)or frequent to common(Fryet aI1988).

Between1983and1990atotalof 16,000Red-belliedParrotswere recordedto beexportedfrom Tanzaniabutthispeakedwithca

BROWN-HEADEDPARROT Poicephalus cryptoxanthus TheBrown-headed Parrotis residentin forest-savanna mosaic anddrierwoodlandfromcoastal southeastKenyasouththrough easternTanzama, Malawi,southeast ZambiaandMozambique to the Transvaal, Swazilandandeast Zululand.

Forshaw(1989)recognises three subspecies: thenominate cryptoxanthus, tanganikae and zanzibaricus.Onlythefirst two subspecies arerecognised

by Fry et al (1988)andotherauthorsconsider it monotypic(White1970, Zimmermanet aI1996).This suggests thatgeographic variationis slight.Clancey(1977)indicatesthat zanzibaricus,previouslyconfined to ZanzibarandPembaIslands,is nowextinct.Hybridisationbetween theBrown-headed Parrotand Meyer'sParrothasbeensuggested wheretheirrangesmeetin south eastZimbabweandnortheast Transvaal(Clancey1979citedin Fry et aI1988).Howeverif this occursit is veryrareasthetwo speciesappearmutuallyexclusive with nomIXedparties(Rowan1983, S.Taylorpers.comm.).

Fry et al (1988)referto thespecies ascommon.In Kenyaandnorthern TanzaniatheBrown-headed Parrot is localisedin coastalbushand woodland,mangroves andcoconut plantationswherescarceexceptfor nearKifi, ShimoniandonPemba Island(Zimmermanetal 1996).Collar(1998)suggests the speciesis notgloballythreatened

8

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notingit ascommonin Malawiand Pemba,thecommonsmallparrotof Mozambique, andlocallycommon in EastTransvaal, especiallyin KrugerNationalPark.Juniperand Parr(1998)notethatBrown-headed Parrotsare'in placescommon, especially nearcoastandin southof range'butincreasingly vulnerable to habitatlossandfragmentation and probablyundergoing a general decline.Thedifferences betweenthe earlierandrecentreportssuggest a rapidrecentdeclinein thisparrots rangeandnumbers.

StuartTaylor (pers.comm.),whohasworkedwith thisrarrotoverthelasttwoyears, considers Brown-headed Parrotsto benowlocallyextinctovermuchof theirformerrangein SouthAfrica andMozambique.

Theonly substantial population in South Africa,estimated at 1,500-2,000 birds,is nowconfinedto theKruger NationalPark(S.Taylor,pers. comm.).

Someexporttradeoccursbut documented tradehasbeen relativelysmallwithca500birds reportedasexportedfromTanzania in 1990(Edwards andBroad 1992).

In commonwithotherPoicephalus zerotradequotasweresetfor Tanzania for 1995,1996and1997.

Wildcaughtbirdsarecommonly soldin Mozambique for verylittle moneyandthisillegaltradehasled to adeclinein numbers(Perrin 1997).StuartTaylor(pers.comm.) suggests that2,600-5,200 individualsperannummaybe tradedfromMaputo,Mozambique.

The1997exportquotafor Brownheaded ParrotsfromMozambique wasfor 200'ranched'birds.This doesnotreferto captive-breeding buttheharvesting of wild chicks.

Thewholeissueof 'ranching'of wildparrotsfor thepettradewould repayfurtherinvestigation especially withregardto the formulatIOn of guidelinesfor best practice.

Howeverin Mozambique themajorconcernhasto bethatthe scaleof thepresentlocaltrade wouldappear unsustainable.

Therecentdeclinesin rangeand numbers indicateit is importantto continuetomonitorthisparrotand understand its ecologyandbiology.

Trade,habitatlossandhabitat fragmentation havebeensuggested asreasons for thisdeclinewith capture for thebirdtradeof particularconcernin Mozambique.

A reassessment of theregionaland ultimatelyglobalconservation status of thisparrotwouldbevaluable.

RUPPELL'S PARROTPoicephalus rueppellii Riippell'sParrotis restrictedto

southwestAngolaandNamibia whereit inhabitsarangeof habitats includingsub-desert dry grass steppeanddry woodland.It is considered locallycommonbut althoughits captureis nowillegalin Namibiaits numbershavebeen muchreducedby trapping(Fryet al 1988).

Theestimated populationin Namibiais only9000birds(Selman 1996).Smallropulationsizes togetherwith ItSrestrictedrangeand illegaltrapringmayhaveledto a recentdeclmeassuggested by smallerflock sizes(JuniperandParr 1998).Thismonotypicspecieshas

yellowareasmoreorangetinted, fromthesouth-west.

Forshaw (1989)considersthesedoubtfully distinct,andFry etal (1988) considerthespecies monotypic.

Thebiologyof theYellow-fronted Parrotis virtuallyunknownandits breedinghabitsentirelyunknown (Urban1980).Hilton (1997)notes thatYellow-fronted Parrotswere previouslyfoundin northern Ethiopia,anduntilrecentlyalsoin thesouthernsuburbsof Addis Ababa.Theyarenowconfinedto theNationalParksof thesouth;the Arsi, Harara,AkoboandBale mountainsandtheJikaoforest.

Collar.N. 1. andStuart.S. (1985)Threatenedbirds01Africa andrelatedislands.Cambridge.U. K.: ICBP/IUCN. Collar.N. 1. (1997)Family Psittacidae(Parrots).Pp280-477.

In: del Hoyo.J.,Elliot, A. andSargatal,J. (Eds.)Handbook 01theBirds 01theWorld Vol4.Sandgrouseto Cuckoos.

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Cambridge,U. K.: ICBP. Dowsett,R. 1. andDowsett.Lemaire,E(1993)A contribution to the distributionandtaxonomy01alrotropicaland malagasybirds. Liege,Belgium:TauracoPress(Tauraco ResearchReportNo. 5).

Dowsett,R. J.andForbes-Watson, A. D. (1993)Checklist01 birds 01the afrotropicalandmalagasyregions.VoU: species limits anddistribution.Liege,Belgium:TauracoPress.

Edwards,S, R. andBiteye,M. (1992)Wild bird trade: perceptionsandmanagement in the Republic01Senegal.In: Thomsen,1.B., Edwards,S. R. andMulliken, 1. A.(eds).

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African Grey Parrots P. erithacus, in a traders's premises.

beenthesubjectof recentresearch

by RichardSelmanandMargaret Hunterwhosereportis expectedto providethebasisfor decision makingaboutfutureresearch or conservation action.

YELLOW-FRONTED PARROTor YELLOW-FACEDPARROT Poicephalus flavifrons Thisis arestrictedrangespecies endemicto highlandEthiopia.The Yellow-fronted Parrotis locally frequentto commonabove1800m in JuniperusandPodocarpus forests;uncommon below1000m (UrbanandBrown1971,Fry etal 1988).Thisparrotis unknownin trade.Althoughtwocaptiveswere reportedto theInternationalSpecies InventorySystem(ISISreport,June 1997)by acollectionin the Netherlands andonewasreported by thesamecollectionin the EuropeanEndangered species Programme (EEP)ParrotTaxon AdvisoryGroup'srecentsurvey (Brouweret al1997)further investigationindicatedbothwerein error.

White(1970)recognises tworaces of theYellow-fronted Parrot;the nominateP f flavifrons fromthe

Althoughtheynowhavebecome morerestrictedin distribution, Hilton (1997)considers theYellowfrontedParrotnotto bepresently rareor endangered.

Collar(1998) notesthatoutsidetheNationalParks theYellow-fronted Parrotis considered a minorcroppestand potentiallyatriskfromchemical sprayingto controldamage by other birds.

TheYellow-fronted Parrot's restrictedrangeis includedwithin thatof anotherEthiopianendemic, theBlack-wingedLovebird Agapornislaranla. Forshaw(1989) notesthatYellow-facedParrotsare oftenseenin thecompanyof BlackwingedLovebirdsAgapornis laranla.Althoughthisis contested

by Hilton (1997);bothparrotscould usefullybesurveyedtogetherto givecurrentabundance estimates againstwhich futureestimates couldbecomparedto enablecloser monitoringof thesetworestricted rangeEthiopianendemics.

Murphy,P.E, Barlow,C. R., Flecliard,M. C. andN'jie, A. (]997). A RamsarWetlandStudy,The Gambia.Banjul,The Department01ParksandWildlile ManagementunderThe ministry of FisheriesandNaturalResourceswith the Ramsar Bureau.

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Snyder,N., McGowan,P, Gilardi,1. andGraJ3l,A. (1998,in press)ParrotAction Plan.GlandandCambridge:IUCN. Thiollay, 1. M. (1985)The birds01Ivory Coast.Malimbus 7:].59.

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Thiollay, J. M. (1985)The birds01Ivory Coast.Mallmbus 7:1-59.

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Urban,E. K. andBrown, L H. (1971)A checklistof the birds of Ethiopia.AddisAbaba:Halle SelassieI University Press.

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