Lesser Vasa Parrot - BirdForum Opus

Alternative name: Black Parrot

Photo by balticbird
Ampijoroa, Madagascar

Coracopsis nigra

Identification

• 35 - 40 cm
• Upperside blackish-brown paler at rump
• Back and folded wings with greenish reflections
• Primaries with grey edges
• Underside with very faint barring
• Undertail coverts grey-buff
• Outer webs of primary feathers grey
• Underside of wing with silvery band at the inner end of the flight feathers
• Tail dark brown with grey tip on upperside, pale grey on underside
• Bill dusky to pinkish grey which may be palest during breeding
• Dark brown eye has a bare grey eye ring

Immatures - paler than adults with horn tinge on bill and pale grey tail feather tips.

Distribution

Found on Madagascar and the Comoro Islands.

Taxonomy

Seychelles Black Parrot and Comoro Black Parrot were formerly included in Lesser Vasa Parrot.

Subspecies

Clements recognizes these subspecies[1]:

• C. n. libs - paler in colour; underparts more brown; upperparts tinged with blue/grey; no dark band on tail.

  Drier areas of western Madagascar

• C. n. nigra:

• Forests of eastern Madagascar

Habitat

Mangrove swamps and evergreen forests to 2000 m asl.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes seeds, blossoms and fruit - especially berries and mangos.

Breeding

Nests are built in hollow trees.

Vocalisation

One commonly heard song has three to four whistled elements, the first and last lower pitch than the middle one(s). This may be repeated multiple times with some variation between repetitions.

References

1. Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2023. IOC World Bird List (v 13.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.13.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
3. Kirwan, G. M. (2023). Lesser Vasa Parrot (Coracopsis nigra), version 3.0. In Birds of the World (B. K. Keeney and S. M. Billerman, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.blapar1.03

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Lesser Vasa Parrot. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 January 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Lesser_Vasa_Parrot

External Links

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