João Vieira National Park manager Quintino Tchantchalam, local ornithologist Hamilton Monteiro, former parrot poachers, and canopy access experts from Explore Trees.
Nest trees are disappearing from the Timneh Parrot’s (Psittacus timneh) range at a rapid rate. WPT has funded and collaborated with local partners to assist Timneh Parrot conservation in Guinea-Bissau since 2013. In 2016 a team visited the island of João Vieira, one of the largest known concentrations of breeding Timneh Parrots, to monitor existing cavities and collect samples. Nest boxes were installed in sites beyond the reach of poachers to boost the breeding population and create safe nesting cavities.
Status: IUCN Endangered / CITES Appendix I
Population: 100,000-500,000 mature individuals, decreasing.
Threats: The species has been heavily traded on the international market. Habitat loss (up to 77%) is also significantly impacting their food and nesting trees.
Range: Native to the western parts of the moist Upper Guinea forests and bordering savannas of West Africa extending from the Bijagós islands of Guinea-Bissau eastwards through southern Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire.
Natural history: Timneh Parrots are found in primary and secondary rainforest, forest edges and clearings, gallery forest, mangroves and savanna. Their diet consists of a variety of seeds, nuts, fruits (including oil palm) and berries. Birds will sometimes travel great distances for food. Are generally seen in small, but vocal, flocks of a few dozen. Breeding is during the dry season; January-February, and June-July. Their nest is in a high, live tree in a hollow.