What is an African Grey Parrot

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The Grey Parrot belongs to a large parrot and is a typical climbing bird. It has toe-shaped feet, two toes forward and two toes backward, suitable for grasping. The beak is strong and powerful, and it can eat hard nuts. The tail is short, the head is round, and the face is long hair. It likes to climb but is not good at flying. African Grey parrots are one of the few animals known to actually converse with humans. Staple food All kinds of seeds, nuts, fruits, nectar, berries, etc. Distributed in Africa.

What does Grey Parrot look like

The African Grey parrot has a body length of 33-41 cm, a weight of 400-490 grams, and a life span of about 50 years. It is a large parrot with short tail, round head and long hair. It likes to climb but is not good at flying. Body is various shades of Grey with a narrow strip of white bare skin around the eyes on the face; head and neck Grey feathers with light Grey piping and belly feathers with darker piping; primary flight feathers Grey-black ; tail feathers bright red; beak black, iris yellow. Juveniles have black-tipped tail feathers and a light Grey iris that turns yellow with age. African Grey parrots in Nigeria are generally darker in color.

How to distinguish between male and female: From the appearance, the head shape of the male is wider and larger, and the sides of the eyes are slightly pointed into an almond shape, while the head shape of the female is narrower and smaller, and the eye circles are rounder.

Grey Parrot Habitat

African Grey parrots usually inhabit low altitude areas and rainforests. They are gregarious and like to inhabit trees or palm trees near rivers and lakes, usually a few of them move together.

Grey Parrot Behavior

This species has a strong speaking ability, is gifted, has a high IQ, and is known for being good at imitating human speech. When foraging, they usually act together in small groups. They like to eat all kinds of seeds, nuts, fruits, berries, etc., and sometimes they also eat flowers and bark, as well as insects and snails. They even go to the crop fields to forage, causing agricultural losses. , especially cornfields. African Grey parrots can travel long distances to search for fruit trees and migrate seasonally, especially during the dry season. Gathers in large flocks when perched, is very noisy, and rattles, whistles, and screams both at rest and in flight, and in addition to being able to imitate human speech, this parrot has also been found in the wild to imitate the speech of other birds and mammals sound.

Distribution area of Grey Parrot

Mainly distributed in central and western Africa, from Guinea-Bissau in the west to western Kenya in the east.

Mode of reproduction

African Grey parrots are monogamous, and the breeding period begins at about 3 years old. The breeding season varies from place to place, and the dry season in East Africa is about January to February and June to July. The nest is built in a tree hole 10-30 meters above the ground, usually a clutch of 2-3 eggs, occasionally 4 eggs. The hatching period is 28 to 30 days. When the young bird is just hatched, it weighs only 14-16 grams and is 5 cm long. After about 75-80 days, the feathers grow, and the period of leaving the nest is about 80 days.