NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Niam-niam Parrot
Poicephalus crassus (Sharpe, 1884)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Niam-Niam parrot (Poicephalus crassus) is a parrot nearly endemic to the Central African Republic, of the genus Poicephalus. It is a mostly green parrot with a grey-brown head and orange irises. The Niam Niam is one of the world's most poorly-known parrots, with little known of its conservation status, and was one of the last unphotographed birds in Africa until 2017.
Wikipedia contributors, Niam-Niam parrot; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:29:51.105901+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Poicephalus crassus (Sharpe, 1884)
- Name authority
- (Sharpe, 1884)
- Common name
- Niam-niam Parrot
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
- Genus
- Poicephalus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPsittaciformes
- familyPsittacidae
- genusPoicephalus Swainson, 1837
- speciesPoicephalus crassus (Sharpe, 1884)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Poicephalus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Brown-headed ParrotPoicephalus cryptoxanthus (W. Peters, 1854) | PsittacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Meyer's ParrotPoicephalus meyeri (Cretzschmar, 1827) | PsittacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yellow-fronted ParrotPoicephalus flavifrons (Rüppell, 1842) | PsittacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| African Orange-bellied ParrotPoicephalus rufiventris (Rüppell, 1842) | PsittacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Brown-necked ParrotPoicephalus fuscicollis (Kuhl, 1820) | PsittacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red-fronted ParrotPoicephalus gulielmi (Jardine, 1849) | PsittacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Brown-necked ParrotPoicephalus robustus (J. F. Gmelin, 1788) | PsittacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Rüppell's ParrotPoicephalus rueppellii (G. R. Gray, 1849) | PsittacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Senegal ParrotPoicephalus senegalus (Linnaeus, 1766) | PsittacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Pionias crassus Sharpe, 1884 Sharpe, 1884 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=177610 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4KWLV. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.