Parrots!!

There are many different species of parrots; the most popular are the African Grey, Cockatoo and the Macaw. There are two popular subspecies of African greys, the Congo African grey and the Timneh African grey. Timneh greys are smaller than Congo’s and do not have the vibrant red-tail colour of the Congo.

A Macaw

Cookie my parrot

Parrots have a long lifespan and can live up to the age of 75 years, so when decided to make one of these feathered friends part of the family you might want to remember to mention who gets this fellow in your will.

Of the parrot family the African grey is the most intelligent, they learn to speak quiet easily and can even identify objects, for example when you pick up an apple the parrot will say apple. My sisters parrot identifies objects with actions to, when you pick up your car keys he says “goodbye” to you.  When the phone rings he says “Hello Mike here” he is a very entertaining bird to have around. Tokkie was hand raised, he has always been around people, always had the TV or radio on around him and we believe for that reason he has a very large vocabulary, and he always seems to use the right words at the right time. Make no mistake as nice and entertaining as it may be to have a parrot they are noisy, they do make a big mess and they are very demanding.  When they do not receive the attention that they have become use to they do act up and this can included biting and growling.

                                                        

Tokkie my sisters parrot

To house an African Grey you need a big spacious cage, for during the day. This must have toys, for stimulation; remember you dealing with a clever bird that has the intellectual level of a 3-4 year old. You must provide clean water and food daily, some fresh fruit is always welcome and you will soon enough know what your parrot likes and does not like.

Tokkie in his outdoors cage

  

You will need a smaller cage for your parrot to sleep in at night, which can be covered and is in a secure warm part of the house. Again a water and food bowl is needed as they do like to snack before bed time.

Here are some cage and toy examples:

Have fun shopping for your parrot!!