Meek's Pygmy-Parrot

Pygmy parrots are the smallest members of the true parrots superfamily. They are fast-moving, emerald-green birds with brilliant flashes of colour. Meek's pygmy parrot has a cap, forehead, nape, and face of mid-brown with a yellow throat and underparts. In M. m. meeki, the yellow colouring extends to the ear coverts, while in M. m. proxima, it also extends as a narrowing band of yellow horizontally above the eyes. In the latter subspecies, the face and nape are a paler brown. The remainder of the plumage is green, slightly darker on the back and wings, and paler on the belly. The beak and large feet are brown.

Meek's pygmy parrot is known from the Admiralty Islands, a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago to the north of Papua New Guinea. It is said to be common on the islands of Lou and Manus and the population appears to be stable so it is listed as being of "Least Concern" in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

This bird is one of seven named in honour of the English naturalist Albert Stewart Meek, who collected many previously unknown birds and insects from Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the Pacific region. Many of these are now in the Natural History Museum in London. The two subspecies are M. m. meeki Rothschild & Hartert, 1914, and M. m. proxima Rothschild & Hartert, 1924.