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The African Grey
Congo is a beautiful, intelligent parrot, that would make
a wonderful addition to your family, as long as you
understand their capabilities and have the patience to
give them all that they need. Owning a parrot is something
that takes lots of love and time, in order to have a good
relationship with them. They have definite needs,
and if fulfilled, you will have a lifelong friend.
There are many
attributes to sharing your world with an African Grey
Congo. They have the intelligence level of a
five-year-old, yet the emotional level of a two-year-old. It is quite like having a perpetual toddler in your home. If unattended they have enough abilities to get themselves
in trouble, so it is always important to keep an eye on
them. Nevertheless, they love to interact with their
family, and will like to be everywhere you are, whether at
the kitchen table, or taking a shower.
In the wild, the
African Grey is a flock bird, so you and your family are
 their flock in their eyes. They want to be with you as
much as possible. They do not necessarily have to be on
you to interact but like to be included in the family
activities whether it be watching TV or cleaning the
house, as long as they are involved some way, they are
happy. The African Grey is known for its talking ability. They usually begin talking anywhere from 3 months to 1
year of age. They are excellent mimics, and have the
ability to not only repeat words and sentences, but just
about any sound that is a regular in your household. Telephones, microwave beeps, coffeepots are easy for them
to imitate. They can have in their repertoire as much as
2000 words. Not only do they speak just as if the person
they are imitating is standing right there, they also can
feel what we are feeling and are capable of reacting to
our emotions. The do not always just repeat, they can
understand some of what they say, by knowing the right
response what is spoken to them. The African Grey Congo is
without a doubt, very talented, but they are also very
skittish. They are cautious of strangers, they have to be
eased into new toys and new situations, but if you
approach them quietly and calmly winning their trust, they
can adapt and be very happy with their human family
members. Once they trust you, they are so loyal, and love
to have the back of their heads scratched. They will
even snuggle under your chin, which is more likely to
happen at the end of the day, when they are almost ready
for sleep and relaxed.
The African Grey
Congo is a medium size bird. They can range in size from
12-14" from their beak to their tail. The normal range for
weight is between 400 and 650 grams. The baby parrot will
have dark grey, even black eyes until they reach six
months of age. After that, their eyes start to
 lighten, which is a good way to determine if a parrot is less than
six months of age. From then until about two years, the
eyes will be pale grey in color. When they reach
adulthood, at approximately three years of age, they will
have a light yellow coloring to their iris. Their beaks
are solid black, and after about six to eight weeks of
age, their tail feathers turn a beautiful bright red. Another way to determine a young Grey, is if they have
they have dark grey tips to their feathers. Around their
eyes, they are smooth and white. Most of their plumage is
light grey, though some can be a bit darker. Their feet
are a dark grey. If given the proper love and
nutrition, these birds can live as long as 50-70 years.
The African Grey
Congo originates from Central Africa, from the southeast
portion of the Ivory Coast extending to western Kenya,
down to Tanzania and Angola. Greys from Congo can be
somewhat larger, and those from Nigeria can be darker in
their wing coverts.
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