Taxonomy/Origins: South-east Ivory Coast east to western Kenya and south to northern Angola, southern Congo and northwest Tanzania, islands of Fernando Poo and Principé, possibly isolated population in Kilimanjaro area, Tanzania.
Subspecies: Timneh Grey Parrot
Psittacus e.timneh
Also
Psittacus e. princeps:
Not a recognised sub-species, only 50% of birds from Principé und Fernando Poo have darker plumage, so would be completely within colour variation of nominate type; observations have been made that bird's fly back and forth between the islands and mainland, which would render classification as sub-species pointless.
Plumage Colouration: Juveniles tend toward a darker tail color to that of the adult at least untill 6months old, Juvenile eye color black untill aprox 18 weeks thereafter turning to light grey outer ring, eyes turn a pale yellow at 12 months, to a brighter yellow as the bird get older.
General plumage pale grey, but occasionally dark grey; white, bare facial area; head feathers with pale edging; abdomen feathers with dark grey edging; lower back light grey; primaries grey-blackish; tail and adjacent tail-coverts red; bill black; iris pale yellow; feet dark grey.
Sexing: Some say they can sex a bird by the shape of a greys head or the overall look of the bird, I find this doubtful, and would recommend a DNA test where two blood feathers are removed from the chest area and sent for analysis, ensuring a positive resul in the sex be it female or male bird.
Feeding: The diet depends very much on the bird; if the bird is a wild import our fresh foods maybe alien therefore its harder to adjust the bird into eating a health diet, I would suggest a fortified vitamin supplemented seed in this case as the bird may tend toward being a seed junkie, hand reared birds take more readily to fresh fruit and vegetables, pellets specially produced for specific birds, also egg-rearing food.
Avoid feeding a human junk food, chocolate is highly toxic to all animals, crisps, avocados pear, fizzy drinks, as well as tea, coffee, broad beans or runner beans, mushrooms, parsnips and rhubarb.
Peanuts in the shell have been known to harbour harmful fungal spores causing respiratory disorders also peanuts stop the absorbtion of calcium into the body tissues. ECT.
You may feed:
Most vegetables are suitable to parrots;
Sweet corn but not the tinned salted type. Broccoli once a week, Peas in or out of the pod, Carrots, Cauliflower, Root vegetables like Potato Swede should be cooked without salt.
Apple, Apricots fresh or dry remove stone, Banana remove the skin as sprayed with insecticides, Blackberry, Blueberry, Cherries remove pips, Chinese gooseberries or kiwi, Cherry tomatoes, ordinary tomatoes, Figs one once a week as high in iron, Grape / seedless green or black are fine, Mango / remove stone, Melon / Birds enjoy the seeds from Melons, Nectarine, Orange including Kumquats Papaya Peach remove stone, Pear, Pineapple, Plums / remove stone, Pomegranate pips are fine, Prune / remove stones, Raspberry, Strawberries, Boxed mini sun ripened sultanas / currants some parrots like to break into the box for the fruit.
If your bird won't eat dry fruit try soaking them for 2hrs drain and serve.
Some birds enjoy potatoes cooked in the jacket but make sure that all food is cool before serving to your bird
Additional foods: One chicken thighbone (weekly) with a little meat attached, Egg (Weekly) hard boiled OR scrambled the egg yolk is higher in vitamins than the white of the egg. Do not give any raw eggs to birds. Pasta (uncooked) durum wheat or Corn Rice (cooked) can be mixed with the vegetables or fruit. Frozen blanched mixed vegetables; blanch with boiling water but make sure there is no ice left inside the thicker vegetables like carrots also that they have cooled enough to feed to your birds.
All these mentioned above can and should be included in the birds diet. If different foods are rotated on a regular basis within a parrots diet this should not only help keep the bird from getting bored eating the same diet daily, but will more importantly help the bird in staying healthy. Lactobiles for healthy gut flora can be given via live bio yogurt or purchase a supplement called probiotics from your avian vet. I do not feed cabbage to my parrots as I feel that this maybe too strong and high in iron.
Housing: Make allowances for wing stretching.
If the cage is to small a larger bird would have to sit centralized this obviously not suitable.
Climbing playing and being able to amusing him/herself should also be taken into account when confined to a cage for any period of time.
An undersize cage can often be the cause of feather damage due to the bird's feathers rubbing against the bars of the cage.
Not recommended: round tall narrow type cages to owners, as birds kept in such cages tend to show higher rates of psychic disturbances.
A suitable cage would have a flat top and at least 3ft wide by 3 ft high by 2 ft in depth with a pull out tray for easy litter changing and on castors for easy manoeuvrability allowing you to clean around the outside of cage when required also four feeding dishes one for seed one for fresh food another for water the last one could be used for specific parrot treats or dry pellets.
At least two sides of the cage need to have horizontal bars almost all parrots like to climb around and its much easier for the bird if the bars are horizontal rather than vertical enabling a better grip.
The bars of the cage need to be at least1/8 inch (2.5-3) thick, and spaced 1 to 1 1/4 inches (25-30 mm) apart African greys for instance can bend or break thinner bars if the spacing of the bars are to close together it will interfere with the birds view from the cage.
Breeding: Breeding from May; house a pair of birds in a sheltered aviary for breeding also avoid disturbance as much as possible; nestbox needs to be at least 28 x 28 x 60 cm (11 x11 x 24 ins); clutch usually 3 to 4 eggs; incubation 26-28 days; fledging period 12-14 weeks; the adults seem very sensitive to nestbox inspection.
If housed in a indoor bird room the nestbox humidity needs to be between 50-65% so any eggs produced do not dry out to quickly.
Hints/tips: Do as much research & homework well in advance before buying any bird, some birds have a human lifespan. Remember that It's not as easy to board a bird out for holidays as lets say a cat or dog, have all equipment in place before you buy a bird, cage, toys, supplements, food stuff, etc. Check where your nearest avian vet's located. If you're ever unsure of anything no matter how silly a question may seem, ask it anyway! (you will be doing your bird a great dis-service if your too shy or think your far to knowledgeable to ask..)
Learning is forever not for just a few years!
Visit the breeder/handrearer direct so that you can see for yourself the environment in which the birds are raised, if this is different to your own try and acclimatise the newcomers slowly by using foodstuffs and temperatures that they are used to, slowly weaning them onto your regime over a few weeks.
Unique Characteristics: Greys are not for the faint of heart; they tend to choose one human over another and not always the person for whom the bird was intended for as a pet!
Greys can be a bit aloof in their manner, moody, funny, to down right stubborn at times, all parrots have jungle table manners so if your house proud & love wooden furnishings, maybe think Cockatiels or Budgies.
Are Greys amongst the great talkers? Maybe not, you'll only ever get out of any bird what your prepared to put in.
Some birds prefer you imitate noises rather than speech, Greys seem to babble a mixture of noises while under 12months old, if your lucky once speech starts you will wonder where on earth the bird learned all the new words! (Careful what you say in front of your parrot) you may get more than you bargained for!
Feel free to get in touch for more information by;
Email: parrotcrazy@btinternet.com
Website: www.petparrotclubuk.co.uk
Forum Board: http://beaks.proboards6.com
