 Andy, the African Grey Parrot
A
brief overview of Andy and his amazing species.
Andy is our "Congo" African Grey Parrot. He is a second-generation domestic
bird hatched to a wild-caught female Grey by a breeder specializing in
African parrots in Florida. We call Andy a "he" but honestly we don't know
for sure. Sounds crazy, right? Birds don't have exposed sexual organs, and unlike some other parrot species, Greys have no unique coloration
or markings to distinguish male from female. Andy's size and head shape
indicate a male, but the only sure-fire way to tell is to have him DNA
tested or get him a girlfriend and see who lays the first egg!
Uh, let's just assume he's a "he" and move on...
Andy was one of several eggs hatched on March 4th, 1996. After some careful
attention by mother and breeder alike, the siblings were driven from
Florida to Valle Exotic Birds in Turnersville, New Jersey, where Eileen and
I first saw this adorable little creature trying to snag some quality
shut-eye amidst a flurry of activity and endless squawking of his raucous
cellmates. We took Andy home
on May 25th and weaned him on formula for the next 8 weeks. Now, many years
later, Andy rules the roost and doesn't let us forget that he made our house
a home for one minute! Seriously, he's more than a pet to us, he's a
constantly entertaining companion and beloved family member.
Greys are great talkers, and Andy's no exception. We estimate his vocabulary
at about 100 words although many have come and gone over time. He seems to
have a batch of favorites and adds and subtracts other words for no rhyme or
reason. He makes up his own words and juxtaposes others. For instance, any
fruit is "apple" except an apple, which is sometimes a "cranberry". His real talent lies in his whistling ability. Full song passages
(usually 60's sitcom themes or children's songs),
creative melodic compositions, or unique combinations of the two are his
specialty. He's also been know to "scat" on occasion when the local jazz
station is left on the radio for too long. There is no doubt Andy is a
music-lover. Just about any beat gets his head bobbing to the exact tempo
and he's bound to join in song - like it or not!
That's enough about our
little guy for now.
In the meantime, here's some more general info about the amazing Grey parrot...
The African Grey Parrot has gained notoriety and popularity in the past
decade from the phenomenal gift of speech that many of these creatures
possess. While many parrots
learn some words or phrases, many cases have been documented of African Greys learning multiple lines of songs, poems, or
TV shows. While it is not unusual for a talkative Grey to learn a hundred or
more words, many owners are surprised when their Grey will produce a newly learned word or phrase after hearing it only a few times.
This level of amazement is compounded by their gift for
perfectly mimicking phrasing and speech patterns so they often sound exactly like the
source material.
Greys (the English spelling is the accepted form) are not limited to
imitating speech. Phones, microwaves, answering machines, extensive whistled
calls and melodies
are all part of
their repertoire.
Don't believe it? The proof is in the puddin'! Our Andy is good - but he's
no Einstein. Check out this amazing African Grey's outstanding TV appearance
on Animal Planet's "Pet Star" hosted by that guy who cheated on his wife
... on his honeymoon (whatta tool). You've probably seen this clip
floating around the Internet, but I've scored a high quality Flash-based
version for your viewing pleasure.
Click here to
view this incredible footage!
Greys also demonstrate advanced cognitive abilities that owners and
scientists have documented many times over. Some Greys (and
other parrots) don't just mimic but actually use words learned in new
combinations to communicate their wants, needs and desires. Studies have
found Greys to have the intellectual capacity of a 5-year old human
child with the emotional development of a human 2-year old.
Perhaps the most
famous Grey, Alex is now over
20 years old and has been studied for years by Dr. Irene Pepperberg. Alex
has learned, colors, shapes, numbers, and even invented the term "long
yellow" to express his desire for more corn-on-the-cob! His most recent
project is to learn to "read" phonetically. If your interested in knowing
more about this amazing parrot, please check out
"That Damn Bird", a fascinating article
written by Dr. Pepperberg chronicling the exploits of Alex and the other
Greys under her watchful eye. More info is available from the website of
The Alex Foundation,
a non-profit organization created to support Dr. Pepperberg's continuing
research.
In the past two decades much more is known and documented about African
parrots. Greys are a rather long-lived species with an average life span of 40-60
years and recorded instances of 75+ years for the Congo variety. These birds
are certainly exotic but are not unusual in aviary collections. Compared to
many other parrot species, they are relatively easy to breed, moderately
priced, moderately sized, not prone to screaming and adapt well to human companionship.
Many pet stores, even breeders, will refer to the two most widely used
classifications of the Grey parrot species, the Congo and the Timneh. But
just to set the facts straight, here are the scientific classifications of African Grey Parrots:
African Grey Parrots are all in the genius Psittacus.
Only a single
species makes up this genus, Psittacus erithacus.
This species is further
divided into three subspecies or races...
P.e. erithacus - the nominate race.
The terms "Congo", "Ghana" and "Cameroon" all refer to supposed slight color
and temperament variations of this subspecies. This is the subspecies most
often pictured in books and articles about African Greys. The bird is about
pigeon sized with a bright red tail, a solid black beak, and a light gray
feathered body. Most every written or unwritten source refer to this
subspecies as a "Congo" or "African Grey Congo".
P.e. Timneh
This is the "other grey". Commonly called Timnehs or African Grey Timnehs.
These birds are generally smaller than the nominate race. The body feathers
are darker gray. The tail is a dull maroon or red brown color. The upper
mandible of the beak is all or partially bone colored. There are smaller Congos with darker feathers, however the beak color always has been the
easiest and most consistent differentiation.
P.e. princeps
Some articles have suggested that this subspecies is extinct or has
interbred with the nominate race so much that any visible difference has
vanished. This subspecies was limited to two islands in the Gulf of Guinea
(Principe and Fernando Poo). The "Parrots of the World" reference states
that "this subspecies is probably not distinct from erithacus". The
bottom-line is this... you probably won't find one offered for sale by a breeder, pet
store or bird show and you wouldn't recognize one as anything but the
nominate subspecies if you did see one. |
illustration
by dp
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