The Intelligent African Grey Parrot

The African Grey parrot is among the most gorgeous and easiest of the parrot family to keep. They originate from Central Africa and are known to be highly intelligent and exceptional talkers. African Greys communicate extremely clearly with their owners and can usually develop a good vocabulary.

These parrots are medium-sized and can grow to 10 - 14 inches in length. There are only two types of African Grey parrots. One is light Grey with a red tail and is known as the Congo African Grey. The Timneh African Grey parrot is a much darker charcoal Grey and has a maroon tail. Usually, the males tend to be bigger than the females. The males are generally 12 - 14 inches in length. Actually both sexes will the same, one way to spot the difference is female African Grey parrot have a thinner neck and narrower head.

Because these parrots have a long life span they may need a owner who will make a long term commitment. African Greys can live as long as 60 years. Because they are highly intelligent, African grays really need an owner with inexperience and is able to understand what they need. Being stimulated in an very active environment is important, because they can easily become fed up. African Greys really have to have their intellectual needs met otherwise their boredom could turn to feather picking and other behavioral problems.

They're very sensitive birds, and sometimes this can also lead to behavioral issues. It's certainly possible that even tiny changes in their surroundings out daily routine can lead an African Grey parrot to become bad tempered. Although there are usually good tempered and well behaved these birds make great pets but can be challenging. African Greys that are not disciplined can get into trouble. They could chew and bite things. They are very quick to pick up behaviors, and so if you reinforce negative habits in your African Grey, you could also just as easily reinforce good ones.

African Grey parrots make great pets because they are very sociable rainbow lorikeet for sale birds. In the wild their natural instinct is to flock together. An African Grey will adopt this new family into its flock. Some of them even cuddle their owners. They do like their head petting and scratching, even though they don't always enjoy physical contact. Most experienced African Grey owners are not bothered by the birds very unusual signs of affection.

A sign of affection for an African Grey is regurgitation, and they will attempt to kiss their owners on the lips. Because the human mouth contains bacteria it's not recommended that you let the bird kiss you. The birds really do need companionship, and owners should realize the importance of understanding this.

African Grey parrots are full of human like qualities and personality. These birds have an intelligent that is unequaled by many other animals, and if you own one you should recognize this.