Parrots (Psittacidae)

Brown-headed Parrot (Poicephalus cryptoxanthus) - HBW 4, p. 415

French: Perroquet à tête brune German: Braunkopfpapagei Spanish: Lorito Cabecipardo

Taxonomy: Psittacus (Poiocephalus) [sic] cryptoxanthus W. K. H. Peters, 1854, Inhambane, Mozambique.
Forms superspecies with P. meyeri, P. rueppellii and P. crassus, and possibly others. Believed to hybridize with P. meyeri in SE Zimbabwe, although this is perhaps not as extensive as once thought: birds with yellow shoulders may be aberrant birds of present species. In past considered conspecific with P. crassus. Proposed race zanzibaricus, of Zanzibar and Pemba, indistinct from tanganyikae, which itself is sometimes regarded as invalid. Two subspecies currently recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

tanganyikae Bowen, 1930 - SE Kenya, Zanzibar and Pemba to S Malawi and Mozambique N of R Save.
cryptoxanthus (W. K. H. Peters, 1854) - SE Zimbabwe and Mozambique S of R Save to NE South Africa.