African Grey Parrot

Lore & Background

The grey parrot was formally described in 1758 by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of Systema Naturae. He placed it with all other parrots in the genus Psittacus and coined the binomial name Psittacus erithacus. Linnaeus erroneously specified the type locality as 'Guinea'; the locality was later designated as Ghana in West Africa. The genus name is Latin for 'parrot'.

The specific epithet erithacus is Latin and is derived from the Ancient Greek εριθακος (erithakos) for an unknown bird that was said to mimic human sounds, perhaps the black redstart. The Timneh parrot was formerly treated as a subspecies of the grey parrot, but is now considered a separate species based mainly on results from a genetic and morphological study published in 2007. Only the grey parrot and the Timneh parrot are now assigned to the genus Psittacus.

The Clements Checklist classifies the Príncipe grey parrot as a subspecies of the grey parrot, recognizing two subspecies: P. e. erithacus and Príncipe grey parrot (P. e. principe). This is in contrast to the IOC, which instead classifies it as a subspecies of the Timneh parrot.

Reader's Guide

The grey parrot is native to equatorial Africa, including Angola, Cameroon, the Congo, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda. It is found inside a range from Kenya to the eastern part of Ivory Coast. Current estimates for the global population are uncertain and range from 630,000 to 13 million birds. Populations are decreasing worldwide.

The species seems to favour dense forests, but can also be found at forest edges and in more open vegetation types, such as gallery and savanna forests. A population study published in 2015 found that the species had been 'virtually eliminated' from Ghana with numbers declining 90 to 99% since 1992. Populations are thought to be stable in Cameroon. In the Congo, an estimated 15,000 are taken every year for the pet trade.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission indicated they have observed grey parrots escaped or released into South Florida since at least 1984, but no evidence indicates that the population is breeding naturally. The grey parrot is medium to large sized, predominantly grey and black-billed. Its typical weight is 400 g, with an approximate length of 33 cm, and a wingspan of 46–52 cm. The head and wings are generally darker than the body.

The head and body feathers have slight white edges; the tail feathers are red with occasional black touches. Both sexes appear similar. Juvenile colouration is similar to that of adults, but typically their eyes are dark grey to black, compared to the adults' yellow irises around dark pupils, and their undertail coverts are tinged with grey. Adults weigh 418–526 g. Grey parrots may live for 40–60 years in captivity, although their mean lifespan in the wild appears to be shorter — approximately 23 years.

They start breeding at an age of 3–5 years and lay 3–5 eggs per brood. Little is known about the behaviour and activities of these birds in the wild. It has been shown that wild grey parrots may imitate a wide variety of sounds they hear. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, two greys sound-recorded while roosting reportedly had a repertoire of over 200 different calls.

Grey parrots are mainly frugivorous, with most of their diet consisting of fruit, nuts, and seeds, including oil palm fruit. They sometimes also eat flowers and tree bark, as well as insects and snails. In the wild, the grey parrot is partly a ground feeder.