The African Grey Parrot

The African Grey Parrot is regarded as one of the most intelligent birds and among the easier species of parrot to keep.  Originating in West and Central Africa, Their overall gentle nature and their leaning ability to mimic speech have made them popular pets.

There are two different types of African Grey parrots that are across the world accepted the Congo African Grey Parrot and the Timneh African Grey Parrot.

Congo African Grey Parrot are larger than the Timneh at about 14 inches long, with light grey feathers, cherry red tails, and an all black beak. Immature birds have tails with a darker, duller red towards the tip. These birds also have grey irises which change to a pale yellow color by the time the bird is a year old. Congo African Greys learn to speak relatively slow it usually takes two to three years before they become active talkers.

The second type of African Grey parrots is the Timneh African Grey they are smaller in size and have a darker charcoal grey coloring, a darker maroon tail, and a light, horn-colored area to part of the upper mandible. As pets Timnehs begin learning to speak earlier than Congos, and are often said to be less nervous around strangers.

African Greys have a long lifespan so these parrots require an owner who can make a long term commitment to them, for they can live as long as 60 years. Because of their superior intelligence, they can become easily bored and redundancy may quickly lead to behavioral problems such as feather-plucking.  Parrots may begin to pluck their feathers if their diet isn’t healthy and also from time to time if they have been abused or stressed.

African Greys have a tendency to chews things when they are bored, so being consistent in their training and being an dutiful owner are a must for this active bird. They pick up behaviors very quickly it easily teach them good habits but if your parrot inadvertently picked up bad habits, you can also of course retrain them with good ones.

Grey’s are considered to be one of the most talented talking parrots, but do not think that they are limited to speech only they can and will mimic almost any sound in your home. African Greys require special commitment by their owners to provide frequent one-on-one time. They also require large cages, a varied diet that includes fresh foods, and plenty of safe and sturdy toys. When not provided with these things they can quickly develop unpleasant behaviors and can eventually develop health problems that are difficult to remedy but not impossible.

When choosing a cage, remember to consider the overall width of the parrot cage.  Here’s a great rule of thumb when deciding on the size of cage you need.  Estimate the wingspan of your new parrot you intend to adopt.   Multiply this by four to get the minimum height of the cage you should purchase.  Take the wingspan and multiply by three.  This gives you an idea of the smallest depth the cage should be.  Now multiply by 2.5 to wingspans for the minimum width of the cage.

African Grey parrots are very sociable animals. Training parrots tricks or teaching them to talk is a special way to spend time together.  It is important for their owners to understand these birds’ need for companionship. His ancestors and his wild cousins travel in flocks.  They actually enjoy each other’s company!  Your parrot has a much larger range of emotion than you can imagine when caring for your parrot. Although they don’t like excessive physical contact they do enjoy petting and head-scratching. African Grey parrots might not be a good choice as a pet for those that have children.

The owner of African Grey parrots will probably hear regular renditions of repeated words and any other electronic sound that is often heard by the parrot. So be careful of what you say. While parrots have the distinction of being able to mimic human speech, studies with the African Grey Parrot have shown that some are able to associate words with their meanings and form simple sentences.

If you are looking for parrots that are known “talkers” and  are easier to train, the African grey without a doubt is a good choice. This particular bird is known for their ability to achieve a large vocabulary and for his intelligence.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION Affiliate Marketing Links

I have a marketing connection to a brand, topic or product herein. Through the use of affiliate links contained herein, I may collect fees from purchases made