Parrots are intelligent birds when compared with other birds.
Parrots are colorful and are easily trained birds, but African grey parrots are not colorful and come in only grey color as their name indicates.
African grey parrot has predominantly two species
- Congo – grey in color with bright and cherry red tail
- Timneh sub species- grey in color and maroon tail
African grey parrots’ intelligence is similar and often compared with the intelligence of dolphins and chimpanzees. Grey parrots are very active; they run, climb and play most of the day. When in wild, they are social among their own species and love to be in the group rather than staying alone.
It can memorize and mimic 2000 different sounds. They can understand the use of many words they learn and can use those memorized words at appropriate times. African grey parrots are believed as the best speakers of all the parrots.
African grey parrots are interesting pets and live for the longest period of 65 years, but the life of some parrots is limited to 25 years. The life span of the parrot depends upon the lifestyle and the stress factor of the parrot.
Being such an intelligent and lovely bird, every one will love to adopt this African grey parrot.
The large size of the parrot makes accommodation difficult. But, the one who is trying to adopt the African grey parrot need to try for the best environment the parrots need.
Choosing the cage for the parrot:
Choosing the cage: African grey birds are large in size and need a big cage. The African grey parrot cages have a superfluity of choice, which come in different shapes such as square, round, cylindrical and rectangle.
But, it is advised that round cages are not suitable for African grey parrot as they can cause psychological and orientation problems for the parrots.
What should the African grey parrot cage have?
- Buy the largest size you can afford. It should be longer than its width and give an opportunity to exercise and play. The best size is 36″ long, 36″wide and 40″ high.
- The cage should have large doors due to the large size of the bird. The moment of the parrot in and out will be easy with large doors. The cleaning is also easy.
- The cage should have water and food containers separately.
- African grey parrots are curious animals and should not be kept in the same place all the day. They should be moved to other rooms without making their view boring.
- Always make sure the doors of the cage are properly locked. These parrots are clever and strong enough to open doors.
- Perches are very important and the material should be non toxic. The best perches should be wooden. Vary the thickness of each perch. Fresh natural perches should be provided and replaced at regular intervals.
- Always clean the cage floor. Make your cleaning easy by placing a news paper on the floor of the cage. Do not place sand as the base in the cage because the grey parrot will surely spread the sand all over the room in few minutes.
Placing the cage:
- Never place the cage in a dark or empty room. Grey parrots will never like this set up.
- The kitchen is also not a preferable place as the smoke and the imbalances of temperature while cooking can suffocate the parrot.
- The cage should be placed supporting the wall on one side to give the parrot a secure feeling.
- The normal preferred location is in the living or a busy room where some one is always there to monitor the parrot.
- While placing in a busy room, take care that there should be a separate small sleeping place in the cage that avoids the sound and gives the parrot undisturbed sleep.
- If there is a chance of light entering into the room, you should take care that a plain dark sheet is wrapped round the cage to avoid the light.
As these are smart, if proper training is given to these birds, they can make your home into sweet home with their sweet and intelligent words.
