The African Cape Parrot, also known as Levaillant’s parrot, is a unique species found exclusively in South Africa. This robust bird stands out among African parrots, drawing interest with its striking appearance and specific ecological role. Its presence highlights the rich biodiversity of the region and underscores the importance of its specialized habitat.
Distinctive Features
The African Cape Parrot is a moderately large bird, measuring between 251 and 349 millimeters in length and weighing approximately 260 to 329 grams. Its plumage is predominantly dark green across its body and wings, contrasting with olive-yellow to golden-brown feathers on its head, throat, and neck. A distinctive feature is the orange-red coloration on its thighs and the outer edges of its wings.
Sexual dimorphism is evident in adults, as females display an orange-red patch on their forehead, absent in males. Juveniles resemble females with an orange-pink patch on their forehead, but they lack the red markings on the legs and wing edges seen in mature birds. They possess a large, powerful, and sharply curved beak, well-suited for cracking hard nuts and fruit kernels. These parrots are also vocal, known for calls like ‘tzu-weee,’ ‘zu-wee,’ ‘zeu-wee,’ ‘zz-keek,’ and a nasal ‘zeek.’ They often vocalize continuously in flight.
Forest Home and Foraging Habits
The African Cape Parrot is endemic to South Africa, inhabiting fragmented patches of Afromontane mistbelt forests. These high-altitude forests, found between 1,000 and 1,500 meters above sea level, are characterized by their abundance of large yellowwood trees. The parrot’s distribution spans from the Amathole mountains in the Eastern Cape, through KwaZulu-Natal, and into Limpopo Province, although there are significant gaps in its range. Yellowwood trees, including species like Outeniqua Yellowwood (Podocarpus falcatus) and Real Yellowwood (Podocarpus latifolius), are central to the parrot’s existence, providing food and nesting sites.
The diet of the Cape Parrot is specialized, relying on the kernels of yellowwood fruits. They can crack open and consume these kernels while they are still green and unripe, a stage unpalatable to most other fruit-eating species. This allows them to exploit a food source before other frugivores. While yellowwood kernels are their primary food, they also consume seeds and fruits from other indigenous trees. They have adapted to feed on introduced species like black wattle and pecan nuts, especially during scarcity.
Cape Parrots are “food nomads,” traveling up to 90 kilometers a day to find food sources, which vary with tree fruiting cycles. Foraging occurs during early morning and late afternoon.
Conservation Concerns and Protection
The African Cape Parrot faces conservation challenges. It is classified as “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Within South Africa, it is “Endangered” on the Eskom Red Data Book of Birds, with projections indicating a potential population decrease of at least 20% over the next two generations. The primary threat is the loss and fragmentation of its Afromontane forest habitat, largely due to deforestation and conversion of land for agriculture. The removal of large, mature yellowwood trees is damaging, as these provide food and nesting hollows.
Beyond habitat destruction, the Cape Parrot is also susceptible to diseases, specifically Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD), a viral illness affecting their feathers and beak, which impairs their survival. The illegal pet trade also poses a threat, with wild birds captured for sale. Emerging threats include climate change, which may alter their habitat, and the polyphagous shot hole borer beetle, an invasive species causing tree deaths in South Africa.
Conservation efforts are underway to protect the Cape Parrot and its habitat. Initiatives include habitat restoration programs replanting indigenous trees to counteract deforestation. The Cape Parrot Working Group (CPWG), established in 2001, promotes conservation, raises public awareness, and translates scientific findings.
Organizations like the World Parrot Trust also support habitat restoration, wild population monitoring, nest site protection, and disease risk studies. The “Cape Parrot and Mistbelt Forest Conservation Action Plan,” published in 2020, outlines comprehensive strategies, including species research, habitat management, community engagement, and policy development. Citizen science initiatives, such as the annual Cape Parrot Big Birding Day, contribute to monitoring population numbers and understanding the species’ status.