African Grey Parrot

About the African grey parrot

The African grey parrot belongs to the genus Psittacus, in the parrot subfamily Psittacinae. The genus contains two species: the grey parrot, Psittacus erithacus, and the Timneh parrot, Psittacus timneh. For decades the two were treated as a single species, with the Timneh classified as a subspecies. That changed in 2012, when BirdLife International split them based on genetic, morphological, plumage, and vocal differences, a decision the IOC World Bird List adopted in 2014.

The genus itself has an old pedigree. Carl Linnaeus introduced Psittacus in 1758, in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae, using it as a catch-all for all 37 parrot species known at the time. The name is simply Latin for "parrot." Of those original 37, ornithologist George Robert Gray later designated the grey parrot as the type species — the reference point the whole genus is defined against.

Grey parrots live in the primary and secondary rainforest of West and Central Africa, where they feed mainly on palm nuts, seeds, fruit, and leafy matter. They've also been observed eating snails, a detail that breaks with the usual image of a strictly plant-eating parrot. Their most consequential trait, though, has nothing to do with diet: an inclination and ability to mimic speech and other sounds that has made them a heavily sought pet bird worldwide — a popularity that, as the conservation section below explains, has not been good for the species in the wild.

Behavior and diet

Psittacus parrots are monogamous breeders that nest in tree cavities. A female lays three to five eggs and incubates them for about 30 days while her mate feeds her. Young leave the nest at around 12 weeks old. Little is known about the species' courtship behavior in the wild.

Their reputation rests on cognition. Irene Pepperberg's research with captive greys — most famously a bird named Alex — demonstrated that they can associate human words with meanings and apply abstract concepts such as shape, color, number, and even a sense of zero. Researchers have compared their performance on cognitive tasks to that of dolphins, chimpanzees, and human toddlers. Alex could verbally express what he wanted, suggesting the birds distinguish between features and feelings, not just labels. In one experiment with food hidden under cups, greys tracked which cup held food by remembering which one had been touched most recently, rather than fixed location — a subtle but telling piece of reasoning. A 2011 study led by Dalila Bovet found that pairs of grey parrots could coordinate: one bird might stand on a perch to release a food-laden tray while a partner pulled the tray free, with each waiting for the other to act before both fed. The parrots also showed individual preferences for which partners they'd work with.

Vocally, wild greys whistle, click, and make a range of other sounds, and they use different alarm calls for different approaching predators. Captive birds mimic whatever they hear regularly — microwave ovens, telephones, alarm clocks, video games, dripping water, other birds — and can keep repeating phrases, including profanity, long after they've left the household that taught it to them. In a three-year captive study, four aviary-raised parrots produced more than 50,000 vocalizations, some of which matched the calls of wild grey parrots and captive birds in other locations they had never encountered, not just the sounds of their immediate surroundings.

Range and habitat

The African grey parrot is endemic to the primary and secondary rainforests of West and Central Africa. It depends on large, old trees for the natural cavities it uses for nesting, and studies in Guinea and Guinea-Bissau found that the tree species it prefers for nesting are also the species timber operations prefer. That overlap ties the bird's fortunes directly to the forest's: where primary forest is declining, grey parrot populations decline with it.

Conservation status

The grey parrot is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List (BirdLife International assessment, 2018). Its listing has climbed steadily: it was moved from Least Concern to Near Threatened in 2007, to Vulnerable in 2012, and to Endangered in 2016, driven largely by illegal and unsustainable trade.

Humans are by far the largest threat. Between 1994 and 2003, more than 350,000 grey parrots were traded internationally, and roughly 21% of the wild population was being harvested every year, with 60 to 66% of captured birds dying before they reached market. The species is also hunted for meat and for body parts used in traditional medicine, and it is losing forest habitat. A 2015 study found it had been "virtually eliminated" from Ghana, where numbers fell 90 to 99% after 1992, while populations in Cameroon are thought to be stable.

International protection has tightened in step. In October 2016, CITES moved the grey parrot to Appendix I, its highest level of trade protection. In the United States, the Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992 bars imports of wild-caught grey parrots, and a 2007 European Union directive blocks imports of wild-caught birds for the pet trade across the EU.