AFRICAN GREY PARROT
Psittacus erithacus

 

 

 

DESCRIPTION:
There are two types of African Grey – the Congo and the Timneh.

They feed on a diet of fruit, seeds and nuts. African Grey parrots are extremely social birds. Thousands of them will form a communal nesting site.

The African Grey is widely known for its ability to mimic human voices in captivity. A recording of the parrots in Zaire showed that in the wild, they also mimicked other birds and even one kind of bat. The African Grey is considered to be a highly intelligent bird. There has been some evidence that they can achieve a vocabulary of over 500 words, although there is no evidence that they understand what they are saying.

African Greys can live up to 50 years, although their population is in danger through capture for the pet trade. It is still legal to import them into Europe, yet thousands (up to 50%) will die in transit.