Grey or Gray?
I've been asked why did we name this website The African Gray Parrot. Those familiar with these parrots, realize the spelling is normally "grey". When I decided to create this website, I wanted to use a name that would be both; easy to locate on the internet and also unique to be remembered. I hope you will find the information here useful.
About The African Gray Parrot
Are you looking for information about African Gray Parrots? Do you have questions about general care, food, toys, pet bird supplies? Looking for parrot forums, and other parrot related links? You've come to the right place. While in the process of adopting our baby grey, we researched everything possible to prepare for her homecoming and the long term commitment we had made. It was quickly realized there was sooo much information spread throughout the net you might easily miss beneficial information or products.
The African Gray Parrot is striving to offer all of this in one place. A fun place for all parrot owners to flock together and have fun. We will offer Informative articles, products, and reviews that will benefit all parrot species and their owners. Articles will be updated and changed, so please check back often!
Adaya's Link Page
Looking for parrot related links? Parrot Forums? Visit Adaya's link page. Would you like to share your parrots web page? FB page? Feel free to contact us!
The African Gray/Grey Parrot
The African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus) is a medium-sized parrot endemic to primary and secondary rainforest of West and Central Africa. Experts regard it as one of the most intelligent birds. They feed primarily on palm nuts, seeds, fruits, leafy matter, and have even been observed eating snails. Their overall gentle nature and their inclination and ability to mimic speech have made them popular pets. This has led many to be captured from the wild and sold into the pet trade. The African Grey Parrot is listed on Cites appendix II, which restricts trade of wild caught species, because wild populations can not sustain trapping for the pet trade.
There are two sub species of the African Grey
This is the dominant subspecies, larger than the Timneh at about 12"to 14"long, with light grey feathers, cherry red tails, and an all black
beak. Immature birds of this subspecies have tails with a darker, duller red towards the tip until their first moult which occurs within 18 months of age. These birds also initially have grey irises which change to a pale yellow color by the time the bird is a year old. The Congo grey parrot is found on the islands of Príncipe and Bioko and is distributed from south-eastern Ivory Coast to Western Kenya, Northwest Tanzania, Southern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Northern Angola. In aviculture, it is often called a "CAG". |
These are smaller in size about 11"-13"long, have a darker charcoal grey coloring, a darker maroon tail, and a light, horn-colored area to part of the upper mandible. The timneh grey parrot is endemic to the western parts of the moist Upper Guinea forests and bordering savannas of West Africa from Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, and Southern Mali east to at least 70 km (43 mi) east of the Bandama River in Ivory Coast. It is often called a "TAG". As pets Timnehs begin learning to speak earlier than Congos, and are often said to be less nervous around strangers and novel situations.
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The African Grey/Gray Intelligence
African Grey parrots are considered to be the most talented talking parrots, a reputation rivaled only by the Hill Mynah(Gracula religiosa). Unlike other parrots, wild African Greys have been documented imitating the calls of several other species. African Grey parrots have been tested using rigorous scientific standards, and are classed along side the most intelligent animal species. Dr. Irene Pepperberg's extensive research with captive African greys, famously with a bird named Alex, has documented the ability to associate human words with meanings, and to intelligently apply the abstract concepts of shape, color, number, zero-sense, etc. In many cognitive tasks they perform at the level of dolphins, chimpanzees, and even a human toddler. Many pet Congo African Greys learn to speak quite slowly until their second or third year. Timneh's are generally observed to start speaking earlier. Both (all) subspecies seem to have the same ability and tendency to produce human speech (a question often posed by pet parrot enthusiasts). But vocal ability and proclivity may range widely among individual birds, often owing to its early socialization. Certain Amazon Parrots of the Yellow-headed variety are usually regarded as the next-best talkers among pet parrots.
*Speaking ability should never be a reason to adopt any bird.
Some birds, regardless of species never speak.*
Wild African Grey Parrots frequently whistle, shriek, squeak, click, etc. In captivity these sounds can be rather sharp and annoying. But it is part of their nature. The African Grey owner should expect to hear regular renditions of the microwave, telephone, alarm clocks, dripping water, wild birds, video games, and any other electronic sound that is often heard by the parrot. Learning to tolerate and even respect this natural quality of your Grey is important if a peaceful, pleasant companion pet relationship is to be maintained.
Their sociability and intelligence can make African Grey Parrots outstanding pets with a strongly devoted following among parrot owners. These same qualities mean that African Greys require special commitment by their owners to provide frequent one-on-one interaction, and supervised time out of their cage. They also require large cages, a varied diet that includes fresh foods, and plenty of safe and destructible toys. When not provided with these things African Greys quickly develop unpleasant behaviors and can eventually develop health problems that are difficult to remedy (such as feather-plucking). There is now a large volume of recent literature on the proper care of African Grey Parrots, and the owner (or prospective owner) of a Grey is well advised to seek this out, and learn all that is possible. Even the healthiest, happiest pet African Grey will generate a fair amount of mess and noise. Like most parrots, they are genetically wild, and even a well-socialized, hand-raised and aviary bred bird is only one or two generations from a wild predecessor.
Their sociability and intelligence can make African Grey Parrots outstanding pets with a strongly devoted following among parrot owners. These same qualities mean that African Greys require special commitment by their owners to provide frequent one-on-one interaction, and supervised time out of their cage. They also require large cages, a varied diet that includes fresh foods, and plenty of safe and destructible toys. When not provided with these things African Greys quickly develop unpleasant behaviors and can eventually develop health problems that are difficult to remedy (such as feather-plucking). There is now a large volume of recent literature on the proper care of African Grey Parrots, and the owner (or prospective owner) of a Grey is well advised to seek this out, and learn all that is possible. Even the healthiest, happiest pet African Grey will generate a fair amount of mess and noise. Like most parrots, they are genetically wild, and even a well-socialized, hand-raised and aviary bred bird is only one or two generations from a wild predecessor.