African Grey Parrot Facts

Psittacus erithacus, the African Grey Parrot is a native of West and Central African primary and secondary rainforests. The only recognized and known species of Psittacus genus is African Grey Parrot. The Congo African Parrot and Timneh African Grey Parrot are the two sub-species of the parrot that are officially recognized.

These parrots are clever minded and have a very cool temperament. They have a unique capability to mimic sound that even includes human sounds. This article intends to present some facts, but before we go on to the facts, let us look at their taxonomy.

Taxonomy
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Aves
Family	Psittacidae
Genus	Psittacus
Tribe	Psittacini
Species	Psittacus erithacus

Interesting Facts to Know

Behavior
It is a monogamous bird, who nests alone in a tree and has a hole in it for keeping her eggs. One of the unique facts is that these birds fluff up the feathers to portray a larger look of themselves for defending themselves. This proves their intelligence as well as a strong instinctive behavior. When these birds are raised by human, they tend to mimic the sound, but the wild African parrots do not show any sign of mimicking. Dr. Irene Pepperberg has a grey parrot named Alex who can identify material, color, shapes and objects and count as well. Average lifespan is nearly forty-five to fifty-five years.

Food
The parrots in forest are mainly dependent on vegetarian diet like seeds, fruits, leaves and palm nuts. Sometimes they are observed to feed on snails to enrich their vegetarian diet with protein. To maintain good health of a pet parrot and keep them happy, it becomes essential to give a variety of things to eat. For example, you can give a diet full of fruits, leaves and vegetables. They also need occasional protein rich supplements. It need not be snail always, you can also give eggs that too has an equal amount of protein required for the bird.

Care
These parrots are supposed to be the most intelligent of all bird species. To stay happy in the captivity, these birds need mental stimulation to a large extent to be healthy and happy. This pet demands a lot of attention and maintenance. You need to spend a lot of time with this creature as they are very social and always seek company.

It is a must to leave the parrot out of the cage every day for some time to let them explore the surrounding and exercise. For regular exercise, it is advisable to place the parrot in a large cage stuffed with many toys and give it a natural look. If proper attention is not given to these birds and if they run short of mental stimulation, then they might get involved in feather plucking and screaming. The kind of environment they are provided with have a direct impact on the immunity of the bird. These birds are very noisy, so should not be placed where the neighbors would be bothered. They are not only efficient in mimicking human sound, but they can imitate other appliances like clock, bell, phone, etc. The amount of waste produced by them is also quite large, so they need frequent cleaning and bathing as well.

Health
As mentioned earlier, these birds need frequent mental inputs to be healthy and happy. If you fail to fulfill these requirements, it might result into feather pulling, slit eye instead of round, sneezing, discharge from nostrils, reduced appetite, change in faces, being tired and sleepy for most of the time. The changes in plumage are also observed, like luster is lost, bare spots become visible and plumage starts looking ruffled.

So, these were some of the interesting facts for kids and for adults as well. African grey parrot for sale are also available and the dealers can be searched through the Internet. The price varies according to the age of the bird. So, get one for yourself, but take proper care of these birds so they live longer.