African Gray Parrot

One of the most intelligent of all the bird species and especially of the parrot species is the African gray parrot. Gray parrots are native to primary and secondary rain forest of West and Central Africa and are reputed for mimicking humans and are gentle by nature.

Congo African Gray Parrot and Timneh African Grey Parrot are the universally accepted sub species among gray parrots. Ghana African Gray and Cameroon African Gray are species of the Gray parrots with some skeptics.

The African gray parrot ranges from 10 to 14 inches with medium sized body of the genus Psittacus. Their average weight varies from 300 too 554 grams depending on the sub species. The name itself explains that the bird is predominantly gray and contains accents of white and red or dark maroon tail and the surrounding area of eyes is usually white.

Feet are zygodactyl in nature and have 4 toes on each foot with two on front and two at the back. However, several mutations occur naturally in these parrot species and one among them has resulted in broad red band across the abdomen. Males are bigger than females by 12 to 14 inches and certain differences that can be perceived are more slender neck and narrower head in females.

The feral population mainly feed on palm nuts, seeds, fruits and supplements of leafy matter while few are omnivorous by feeding on small snails. Captive breed are fed with seeds, grains, veggies and pellets. Over feeding the pellets with vitamin C rich foods or citrus fruits leads to iron overload disease so proper measures have to be taken while feeding African gray parrot with the same.