“The African grey parrot is the largest parrot in Africa.”

Of all the talking parrots, the African grey parrot is one of the most amazing. Its intelligence is such that it not only talks but understands what it’s hearing and what it’s saying back. Unfortunately, this parrot is in such demand as a pet that it is endangered in the wild.

Five Incredible African Grey Parrot Facts!

Here are five facts about the fabulous African grey parrot:

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• This parrot is the second most sought-after parrot to have as a pet, and the price reflects that. The price of an African grey ranges from $1,500 to $3,500, and maintenance costs add up to about $3,200 a year.
• An estimated 21 percent of African grey parrots are collected for the pet trade every year, and 60 to 66 percent do not live to become someone’s pet. This is one reason why the bird’s conservation status is endangered.
• Biologists believed that the Timneh parrot was a subspecies of the African grey parrot, but it’s now considered its own species. Like the grey, the Timneh is a popular pet.
• Pet grey parrots have their favorite music. When their favorite song comes on, they dance and sing along to it.
• Right-footed parrots seem to know and use more words than left-footed parrots

Where To Find the African Grey Parrot

The African grey parrot is native to western and central Africa, in countries such as Uganda, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Cameroon. It’s also found on the island of Principe. The bird is most often found in moist forests of the lowlands, though they can also be found as high up as 7,218 feet. Grey parrots are also seen in gardens, yards, savannas, mangrove forests, and forest clearings. They like to live close to the water and may be happiest in trees found on islands in rivers.

African Grey Parrot Nests

African grey parrots nest in tree cavities. Some of these cavities were once home to other birds, and if the hole is a bit too small, the parrot will use its powerful beak to enlarge it. Each parrot pair has its tree. Pet parrots use a nesting box that’s installed in a high area of their enclosure. This mimics, somewhat, the height of a tree.

Scientific Name

The African grey parrot’s scientific name is Psittacus erithacus. Psittacus is simply Latin for “parrot.” Erithacus is an ancient Greek word and seems to refer to a bird such as the European robin. While Erithacus is the epithet for the African grey parrot, it is the genus name for the European robin, Erithacus rubecula. There is now only one species of P. erithacus.

Appearance

The appearance of the African grey parrot is unmistakable. It is medium-sized for a parrot, and the colors of its feathers are mostly shades of gray, though it has a startling red tail. Some of the feathers have a white edge that makes the bird’s plumage especially elegant. The colors of adults and juveniles are a bit different. Adult birds have yellow irises, while the irises of chicks are dark, and their tails are grayer. The parrot grows to around 13 inches long, has an 18 to 20.5-inch wingspan, and weighs between 14.75 and 18.5 ounces.

Behavior

African grey parrots are very gregarious birds, which is why they are rather high-maintenance pets. Their intelligence demands mental stimulation, either from their owner or ideally, another grey parrot or two. Though they are difficult to study in the wild, even wild birds are excellent mimics of other birds.

Though each parrot family has its tree to nest in, they congregate in huge flocks to roost in trees. Unlike other parrots, their flocks do not contain other species of parrots.

They are quiet during the night, then at dawn, they use vocalizations to warn of danger, beg for food, and identify each other. It might sound like a lot of screaming to humans, but the vocalizations are complex and have to be learned by juveniles.

Because they need to learn a great deal about how to be a grey parrot, juveniles can stay with their families for years. During these years, grey parrots need to learn how to find food and water, how to defend their territory, and how to identify potential predators and avoid them. They also need to learn how to establish and defend their nesting sites and raise chicks. This leads to grey parrots becoming quite aggressive with each other when it comes to finding nest holes. On the other hand, grey parrots can be altruistic and share food with other grey parrots.

Scientists believe that the African grey parrot is not just one of nature’s most intelligent birds, but one of nature’s most intelligent animals. They have insight, can perform complex tasks, understand musical theory to some extent and solve complex problems. A famous grey talking parrot named Alex could categorize, ask for, identify and refuse dozens of objects. He not only mimicked human speech but clearly understood it. He died in 2007 at age only 31, of an apparent heart attack.

African Grey Parrot Migration Pattern and Timing

African grey parrots don’t exactly migrate though during the dry season they move in flocks from the driest areas to places where there’s more water and food.

Diet

These parrots are herbivores and eat mostly fruit and nuts. They’ll also eat leaves and bark and will take snails and insects now and then. They’re partial to the fruit of the oil palm. African gray parrots mostly forage on the ground, and flocks of birds do this with care and foresight. First, they’ll gather in a tree, and they’ll descend to the ground in waves to find food. This keeps all the birds from being on the ground, and thus subject to terrestrial predators, at the same time. The parrots also ingest soil, which absorbs some of the toxins in their food.

If they do eat in a tree, the parrot climbs, not flies, from branch to branch.

Pet parrot maintenance includes a well-balanced diet made up of some seeds, some nuts, fruits, and vegetables, including leafy greens. Parrots shouldn’t be fed avocados because they are toxic and must always have fresh water available. Ideally, pellets formulated for African gray parrots should be the major part of their diet.

Predators and Threats

This talking parrot finds safety in numbers in the wild, but it does have predators and threats. The worst of these predators is humans. Humans destroy the birds’ habitat, hunt them for traditional medicine and food and collect them for the pet trade, even though most birds die before they find a loving home.

One major natural predator of the parrot is the palm nut vulture, a small Old World vulture with striking black and white plumage. It is one of a few birds of prey that take grey parrots. Monkeys also steal parrot eggs and chicks, as do tree-climbing snakes. One way that parrots deter predators is to go silent when they see one, then all of a sudden erupt from the trees, screaming. This is sometimes enough to spook a predator.

Besides predators, parrots are subject to a variety of diseases, including blood parasites and tapeworms. Young parrots can succumb to a virus that causes psittacine beak and feather disease. In captivity, parrots can be stricken with infections and cancers. Obesity and malnutrition are also risks if the parrot doesn’t receive excellent care.

Reproduction, Babies, and Lifespan

The reproductive strategies of the grey parrot haven’t been studied extensively, but scientists do know that they mate for life after a courtship dance where they both droop their wings. The birds breed one or two times a year.

The female lays from three to five eggs in the tree cavity and incubates them while the male feeds her from the outside. The eggs, which are laid at two to five-day intervals, hatch after 30 days. Both parents take care of the babies, who are born blind and helpless. African grey parrot chicks take a long time to reach independence for a bird, even though they fledge when they’re about 12 weeks old. It can be three years before they have learned enough to be independent and another two years before they are reproductively mature. The lifespan of a wild parrot is about 23 years on average, while they can live 60 years or more in captivity.

Population

The population of African gray parrots is estimated to be between 630,000 to 13 million, but the bird is under pressure because of habitat destruction and collection for the pet trade.

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