Adopt A Parrot

Even though parrots are one of the most fascinating birds that many people have a soft spot for in their hearts, adopting one usually tends to be way more challenging than one would normally anticipate. However, that’s not to say that to adopt a parrot means nothing else but inviting sheer trouble. But there are still a few things that you must ponder over first before making the big decision, after all, adopting any animal, bird or other living creature is not much different from adopting a baby- they all need care, love, affection and above all a lifelong commitment.

Buy or adopt?

If you do indeed decide to get yourself a parrot, it’s advisable that you adopt one instead of buying. Just like with dogs and cats, there is an overpopulation problem with parrots as well. So every time someone purchases a parrot from a breeder or a pet shop, he/she unwittingly worsens the situation even further.Speaking of overpopulation, you also need to ensure that your parrot is not allowed to breed. That’s a key point to comprehend if you truly love and care for this wonderful creature.

You can adopt a parrot from any nearby animal shelter or parrot rescue and rehoming organization or you can take on one that another parrot owner is going to get rid of, whether you buy it from them or just provide a new home.

Characteristics of parrots

It’s important to learn the characteristics of parrots even before the adoption procedures commence. That’s simply because the last thing you would probably ever want is to find out that the parrot won’t be getting the right environment that it needs and deserves by living with you.

Here’s a rundown of some of the most prominent characteristics of parrots:

* Being pretty loud and vocal is an inseparable element in the “parrot-culture”. While in the wild, parrots are critically dependent on their loud vocalization for communicating with the rest of the flocks. So, no matter how hard you try, you can never train a parrot to always be calm and quiet.

* In the wild, parrots live as prey creatures, and that’s why being highly alert is their biological requirement in order to survive. While hyper-alertness may not sound bad, how this inherent nature makes them prone to too much of stress, so you have to be always careful to make it feel safer with you and the surroundings.

* Parrots often tend to preserve their wild instinct over socialization with humans. So, chances are that no matter how hard you try, a parrot will never really form a bond with you.

* Parrots can be aggressive if provoked or frightened. Perhaps that would not be too much of an issue for anyone if they did not have a really powerful jaw but the bit of a large parrot can be quite hurtful to say the least. There are plenty of reported incidents of children getting hurt from the bites of their pet parrots.  That is why constant gentle handling is best so that the parrot feels comfortable being around you and children need to understand not to move quickly around them.

Taking care of a parrot

Parrots are usually very intelligent and boast fairly complicated psychology. So when you adopt a parrot you will need to devote at least a couple of hours from your daily schedule to give her company outside the cage. For the rest of the day, you must provide some entertainment for your bird alongside contact with other parrots (humans will also do) to engage her social skills. Also, you need to keep in mind the fact that parrots are a bit messy, so you will have to clean up the cage on a regular basis and thus help her stay healthy.

And about the food habits, parrots usually live on a diverse range of diet comprising of pellets, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds that you will have to prepare on a daily basis.

There are plenty of other factors to consider as well before you go ahead with your decision to adopt a parrot, a couple of them are:

*Making the house parrot-proof for the sake of her safety, and also to ensure that she does not end up damaging your household belongings.

* It is a necessity for parrots to live close to nature. So in order to keep her happy and healthy, you must try and simulate at least some of the elements of a wild parrot’s natural habitat.

If you have pondered over all of the points raised above, and are still willing to go ahead with your decision to adopt a parrot, then congratulation, you are about to come across the most amazing friend of your life.

Best Talking Parrot - African Grey

Talking pets are a wonderful option for those people who want some company at home. The beauty of such pets is that you can listen to them talk but if you don’t want to reply back, you don’t have to. Thus, the best talking parrots ultimately make the best talking pets because of their ability to quickly learn and mimic words and phrases.

We have all heard a parrot shriek the famous phrase ‘Polly wants a cracker’ at some point in our lives. Sometimes, the constant shrieking can get very annoying too. While we all love talking parrots, we must be careful about the species we choose to bring home. The amount of noise they make must suit our temperament. These can range from docile species speaking quietly with a small squawk now and then, to full blown out trumpet sounds 24/7.

The special abilities of the best talking parrots vary from species to species. Below is the list of parrots we think will serve as the finest talking pets.

African Grey Parrots

True to their name, these parrots are native to West and Central Africa and their body comprises mainly of grey feathers, sometimes with a bit of maroon mixed in their tail feathers. Their scientific name is Psittacus erithacus. They are widely considered to be the most intelligent of all birds, possessing the capability to communicate intellectually with humans and hold a semi proper conversation, instead of just rambling on. They have a very long life span, of about fifty years, so they can become the ideal companion.  There are some African grey parrots, such as Alex, who became very famous. According to the World Science Report in 2005, he had a vocabulary that consisted of more than a hundred words.

Budgerigar

These are also known as common pet parakeet or Budgie for short, with their scientific name being Melopsittacus undulates. They are native to the drier parts of Australia. Their special characteristics are that they have small bodies with green and yellow feathers and a long tail. They have black markings around the neck and on the wings. Breeding then in captivity has resulted in many different color variations such as blue, white, and grey. Although they are harder to train in comparison to other parrot species, they can learn to become exceptional talkers. One example of such a parrot is Puck, who appeared on the Guinness Book of World because he could speak over 1728 words. This is the largest vocabulary noted of any bird in history.

Amazon Parrots

Amazon Parrots have many sub-divisions in their class. These powerful parrots have their own special abilities, you have to choose carefully which ones you want in a pet.  Some of them are:

• Blue Fonted Amazing Parrots

These parrots are deemed to be performers who often have an attention seeking behavior. They are not appropriate for people who live in apartments because they often end up shrieking so loudly that the neighbors can’t handle it.

• Red Lored Amazon Parrots

These parrots like to form a close attachment to one member of the human family.

• Orange Winged Amazon Parrots

These parrots have a comical temperament which makes them a hit with younger people.

Birds require a lot of attention. Tedious training is essential before the parrots begin to exhibit their extensive capabilities. You need to be committed to keeping a talking parrot as a long time pet. You shouldn’t get disheartened because they don’t immediately start talking to you. It is the effort you put in your pet, and not the species that determines whether your parrot becomes the best talking parrot in the neighborhood!

The Cockatiel parrots are famous all over the world for being ideal household pets and parrots that interact easily with humans. Their binomial name is the Nymphicus hollandicus. The first part of the name indicates the genus i.e. the class of species to which they belong. They have the common traits of a parrot that include zygodactyl feet with two toes pointing to the front and two pointing to the back. Their life span ranges from about twelve to twenty years.

Some White Cockatiels and A Grey Cockatiels At Play

Features:

The characteristics that distinguish them is that they have small bodies with grey feathers, coupled with a contrasting yellow group of upright feathers on the top of their heads. Their faces also have yellow feathers with patches of orange, that make them look like flushed cheekbones. The female Cockatiel has a notably lesser amount of yellow on its face.

Origins:

The Cockatiel Parrots are originally native to Australia. In the wild, they tend to live in flocks consisting typically of about a dozen each, and they follow a nomadic pattern of living, nesting and resting in desert foliage with a supply of water nearby. However, this pattern changes during the breeding season, where the flock numbers swell to over a hundred, and include other species of parrots as well.

Since Australia has made the export of Cockatiel parrots illegal, most of them sold as pets are a result of breeding done in captivity. This is just as well, because it has resulted in more adaptive and docile parrots, with several color variations like silver, pearl and dark brown. They can learn to mimic words and phrases, and while both genders make equally wonderful pets, the males are more extroverted in comparison to the females, learning quickly how to whistle and talk.

Cockatiel parrots are fairly easy to feed and take care of. There are a wide variety of formulated diets available for them in the market. However, in order that your Cockatiel remains healthy you should make sure that:

• The diet includes greens such as carrot tops, spinach, and dandelion leaves as a supplement.
• The diet should not contain huge quantities of seeds that have high proportions of fat, because this can lead the Cockatiels to develop fat tumors in their bodies.
• Fruits like bananas, oranges and raisins should be given to Cockatiels to provide a balance diet. Exceptions are apple seeds, however, because they are considered to be toxic to such species.
• Dry dog food or crushed hard boiled eggs can be added to their diet to provide them with a source of proteins.

Although Cockatiels are happy being out of a confinement, they need to have a cage that is easy to maintain and is large enough to let them move around freely.  The bare minimum dimensions of such a cage would be twenty four inches in width and length respectively. Pet bird toys and perches are essential elements of the cage because your Cockatiel parrot needs to remain active and lively. Also, the bar spacing should range from about a half to one inch so that their small bodies don’t squeeze through the bars, and at the same time don’t prevent them from looking outside.

Also, their signs of illness are very easy to spot. If your pet Cockatiel starts to sit in a corner with its feathers fluffed up, then you should take this as an indication of it being sick, and rush it to a certified vet immediately. All in all, Cockatiel parrots make great pets with a minimal amount of care required and maximum amount of joy given.

A baby African Grey parrot can be a source of infinite joy for its owner if it is properly cared for. Unfortunately, if you’re a first time bird owner, it’s best to stay away from buying a baby African Grey. These birds require a lot of care and attention. If you’re not familiar with the behavior of African Grey parrots, you will have a tough time handling the babies.

Usually, African Grey baby parrots are cared for by their parents well beyond the time they start flying. Baby African Greys are usually not sold to new owners before this point of time, which is about 12 weeks. However, if your baby African Grey was born at home to your pet African Grey, you’ve got some serious information to brush up on before attempting to rear them all by yourself.

Characteristics of a Baby African Grey Parrot

Baby African Greys are not grey when they’re born. They’re pink when they hatch. They develop their trademark grey color, black beaks and red tails only when they start growing feathers. Usually when you buy a baby African Grey from a pet shop, it’s safe to assume that it’s at least 12 weeks old but it is best if you can buy your parrot from the breeder. That’s about the perfect time to wean baby African Greys from their mothers.

Some special needs of baby African Greys are:

- Day old chicks are really tiny, weigh less than 18 grams and require extreme care in handling
- Tiny African Grey Babies need special formula, care and a warm place to inhabit
- They’re very cute when they’re born. However, they tend to look weird for the first three weeks
- They need to be trained from an early age. At least from when they are 12 weeks old

Things to know before you decide on buying a baby African Grey parrot

Buying a baby African Grey is an important decision that one cannot afford to take lightly. It’s a commitment that can sometimes last a lifetime. Since African Greys are birds with very long life spans, you need to consider the fact that they will be around much longer than you. It’s almost like choosing a pet for life.

Since African Grey babies bond intensely with their owner, it’s not easy to give them away either. They can develop cognitive and speech skills that can match 5 year old human children at times. So you can understand how difficult it would be to give them away. African Greys tend to hurt themselves or become overly stressed if they’re separated from their owners.

If you’re buying a baby African Grey parrot, you’ll mostly get one that’s at least 4 months old. If your African Greys have hatched at home, you need to feed them special formulas, put them in brooders and generally care for them really well if you expect them to survive beyond the first few week

Yyou can read up about taking care of your baby African Grey. Since these birds require a lot of attention, love and care, it’s safe to read up a lot before actually deciding to buy them. But if you’ve done your homework and decided that a baby African Grey Parrot is what you want, you can be sure of a fun filled lifetime bird owning experience.

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The Timneh African Grey parrot is one of two kinds of African Grey parrot. The other type of African Grey is commonly referred to as the Congo. While both kinds of parrots originate from Central and Central western Africa, the Timneh hails from parts of central Africa like the western upper guinea forests, the savannahs of Guinea Bissau, parts of Sierra Leone and Southern Mali.

Timnehs are reported to be easier to domesticate and train compared to Congos.

Differences between Timneh and Congo African Grey Parrots.

First off, the Timneh African Grey parrot is much smaller than the Congo. This automatically means you get a smaller, cuter, easier to maintain bird. The Timneh mostly learns tricks and speech parts faster than the Congos do. This is partly due to their more docile nature and sharper observation skills.

Timnehs  are affectionate parrots and like to be handled.  They don’t particularly expect to be cuddled but they do respond to some sort of cuddling from their owner on a regular basis to feel good about themselves. This can be simply a head scratch, but it needs to be done once in a while to let your Timneh know it’s safe and loved.

Since they’re highly intuitive beings, Timnehs learn to predict their owners behaviors and it is not uncommon for Timnehs to even play pranks on their owners when they least expect it.  As a Timneh owner you really should enjoy communicating with your parrot because this is one of their finer features.

Some of the unique features and behaviors of a Timneh African Grey Parrot are:

- They’re the smaller of the two African Grey parrots

- They are more intuitive in nature and are able to follow complex forms of communication which is why they can be taught tricks so easily

- They need a lot of toys to keep them challenged and also to keep them occupied if you are away from the house.

- It’s after all an African Grey. Timnehs too chew a lot so it pays to keep some branches in their cage for them to chew on.

- Compared to Congos, Timnehs can become stressed more easily and need extra attention. For this reason talking toys are good because you can record your voice and it helps keep the parrot relaxed.

- They fluff their feathers when stressed. When the Timneh is stressed or scared he flares and fluffs up his neck feathers. In case the bird will expect some form of comforting from its owner.

Owning a Timneh

The Timneh African Grey parrot is quite a high maintenance bird. They aren’t really expensive to maintain, but need a lot of investment in the form of your time and care. If you’re someone who just likes to stash his bird in a cage and show them off to curious visitors, please spare yourselves the horror of destroying a Timneh’s life.

Timneh Greys need to be free and able to roam about a small area with a lot of toys. They like to play and are very curious creatures. Since they chew a lot, it’s also advisable to leave a lot of chewable items around their play area. It is also very important to actually have a play area if you own a Timneh, for obvious reasons.

A Timneh Grey parrot has a darker red tail than its Congo counterparts. It also has darker feathers than the Congo grey. Timnehs are also supposed to be way naughtier than Congos and are more agile when they’re in a playful mood. So don’t buy a Timneh if you don’t like to run around chasing it at times.

Timnehs are known to be avid speakers. They pick up on various kinds of common phrases, words and sentences heard in your household and throw them at unsuspecting visitors and friends alike. You can almost guarantee that they will embarrass you at some time with their phrases or behavior traits. So, it always pays to be extra careful while talking to your Timneh African Grey parrot.

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The Congo African Grey parrot is one of two kinds of African Grey parrots that currently exist. The other African Grey parrot variety is called “Timneh African Grey” Parrot. Both varieties of African Grey parrots carry remarkably similar physical and behavioral characteristics.

However, the African Congo grey parrot is much larger than the Timneh. The color of the African Grey Congo parrot is also lighter than the Timneh variety which is slightly darker by nature.

The Congo African Grey parrot originates from regions of central and central western Africa. Native African Congo Grey parrot populations are concentrated around the South East of the Ivory Coast till Western Kenya. They’re also found in Northwest Tanzania, the Southern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Northern parts of Angola. The African Grey Congo parrot is currently also found across many parts of the world due to extensive breeding and their wide popularity as pets.

Sometimes these pets get free and breed in the wild so they are not found in many places that are not their natural habitat.

What are the characteristics of the Congo African Grey parrot

The African Congo Grey parrot is known to be very mischievous and playful in nature. It’s also one of the most intelligent species of birds known to mankind. It is said that when you buy an African Grey Congo parrot, you buy a friend for life. That statement is largely true.

Congo African Greys have:

- Amazing speech skills
- Very high levels of intelligence
- Learn skills above average for a parrot and perform relatively complex tasks
- A playful and mischievous nature which allows it to interact with its owners
- An ability to understand and respond to human speech
- A very long lifespan
- Can get stressed easily
- Grey feathers, black beaks and red inner tails

While Congo African Greys are easily stressed, they’re also emotionally dependent on their owners. This simply means that Congos need your attention a lot more than other species of birds. This is a significant factor for most people in deciding whether to buy a Congo African Grey or not. They’re simply ‘high maintenance’ creatures in terms of time and effort.

Tips on deciding whether you want to buy a Congo African Grey or not.

As already mentioned, the Congo African Grey parrot is a high maintenance bird. If you’re not the kind who would pet your bird, cuddle it and say a lot of nice things to it, an African Congo Grey parrot probably isn’t for you. However, if this is what you want in your parrot then Congos can be a source of great joy. They interact well and become very attached to their owners.

The African Grey Congo parrot has a very sweet nature. Although it can learn to adjust to its environment and its owner’s likes and dislikes it is important to get a Congo African Grey when it is young as the older birds can be hard to train to your liking.

So if you’ve decided that you’re going to buy a Congo African Grey parrot after all, you’ve made a wonderful choice.  It is common for many Congos to outlive their owners because of their long life spans. Overall, the African Grey Congo parrot is one of the world’s most loved and popular pet birds because of its learning abilities and amazing intelligence allowing it to befriend its owners.

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African Grey parrot food refers to an ideal set of foods that African Grey parrots prefer eating compared to normal bird food. The natural African Grey parrot diet mostly consists of food that is typically found in its natural habitats along with some improvisations. In the wild, African Grey parrots consume large amounts of various kinds of fruits. They also need copious amounts of water to survive.

What you can include in your African Grey parrots diet

Because they love fruits so much, you can make fruits an integral part of your African Grey parrot food on a regular basis. However, you also need to remember that African Greys tend to pick their own fruits in the wild. There may be some fruits that they genuinely do not like. This doesn’t mean you should stop giving them fruit altogether. Just diversify the kinds of fruits for a more well rounded natural African Grey parrot diet.

Try different kinds of fruits and your African Grey parrot should be able to find the ones it likes most. Mostly the tropical fruits have the best results. Over time, you will know its preferences and its dislikes. You can adjust fruit servings according to your parrot’s likes. Ideal African Grey parrot food consists not only of fruit, but a healthy number of vegetables and organic bird food pellets as well. It’s best to include bright colored vegetables in an African Grey parrot diet as the birds seem to prefer them over other food items.

African Greys parrots usually favor:
- Fresh Fruits
- Brightly colored vegetables
- Organic Bird feed pellets (these have infused minerals and vitamins for their good health)
- Boiled or cooked eggs (excellent for protein)
- Cooked chicken or red meat (excellent for protein)
- Yogurt
- Bird Seeds

While your African Grey parrot loves the above mentioned foods, you can’t really stereotype their tastes. Some African Greys may prefer a few foods that aren’t in their favorite list at all. While deciding on the ideal African Grey parrot diet however, it pays to know what to keep off the menu.

The intricacies of African Grey Parrot food

More than knowing what to give your African Grey parrot, you need to know what not to give them. African Greys are particularly sensitive to Chocolate, Rhubarb and Avocado. Chocolate is quite the culprit because most of us like it and a visitor always decides it’s cute to give some chocolate to the bird in the corner.

Junk food and processed meat foods are a huge NO when it comes to African Grey parrot’s diets. It’s not safe to give them morsels of your own food since African Greys have unique nutritional requirements. Of course, it’s imperative to avoid anything that contains Caffeine or Alcohol. Also, avoid colored bird food pellets. They simply contain way too much sugar for parrots anyway.

When you give your African grey parrot boiled eggs, it’s best to give the egg to them along with pieces of the shell. It’s sometimes best to give it to them along with the whole shell. This is to help their calcium intake. African Grey parrot food must typically contain the food that they prefer to eat. They’re finicky eaters and need to be fed with care. Overall, African Grey diet requirements are simple enough to master and follow. Giving your bird the right kind of African grey parrot diet will ensure it grows up to be healthy and strong.

You want to make sure that it does not get parrot sour crop and this is quite common with baby parrots if they are not fed properly and have their feeding monitored.

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There are a lot of breeders of African Greys because they are such a popular bird so if you make inquiries nearby and at bird shows you should be able to find one that breeds very good parrots.  When they are babies, parrots are very susceptible to ill health and stress so buying form a well known breeder means you will either eliminate these problems or minimize them so that they are not a worry.

You are buying a pet for a lifetime when buying a parrot so it pays to make sure you get a good healthy parrot at the beginning.

If you have to move your parrot around once you have it you can look for these stress symptoms:

- lethargy
- restlessness
- frequent ruffling of feathers
- plucked out feathers
- a pale frightened look

If you notice any of these stress symptoms when you are looking to buy your bird then it’s either unhealthy or has been bought from questionable sources. It’s cruel to treat birds like that, and many Central African Governments have banned their capture in the wild.

However, illegal trade in the birds continues because of high global demand. It would be a shame for you to buy and rear a pet that has been mistreated like that. So it’s always useful to research where to buy an African Grey parrot.

When buying an African Grey your safest bet is to place an order at a local pet
shop but only if they can guarantee a quality breeder and wait for your bird to arrive if they don’t have one already.  Alternatively do your own research and find a reputable breeder. The most ideal purchase would be a 3-4 month old baby.

Take your time to deeply consider where to buy an African Grey parrot, because the bird you buy will be with you for a very long time.

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If you’re looking for information on where to buy an African Grey Parrot, you’ve come to the right place. African Greys are highly intelligent creatures that add a lot of fun to their owners lives. This is because their intelligence can sometimes almost equal that of a 5 year old child. Apart from their intelligence, African Greys are also known for their ability to quickly learn phrases and parts of human speech.

Where to buy an African Grey Parrot

Their many desirable qualities make African Grey parrots a much sought after species. Since African Grey parrots are originally from Central and Central Western Africa, some of the purest breeds yet are found there. However, the best option is to choose from domestically bred African Grey parrots that any decent pet shop can arrange for you.

When you buy from a licensed pet shop there is a high possibility that your African grey is a healthy, domestically bred, tame bird that is easier to train. When you buy from questionable sources, individual sellers or online sellers, there is a high possibility that your African Grey has either been hunted and caught in the wild or smuggled into the country in unsafe conditions. Both these methods are undesirable and also highly illegal.

You can safely buy healthy African Grey parrots from:

- A reputable breeder
- Your neighborhood pet shop but find out about the breeders
- Reputed Online Pet shops
- A friend or neighbor who breeds African Greys
- Websites that exclusively deal in selling African Greys

Be careful not to buy from any breeding factory where the parents are not cared for or checked for health problems and where the early feeding days of the parrot may be lacking in vitamins and minerals that the young parrot needs.

Now that you know where to buy an African Grey parrot, you can also consider buying from online sellers if you’re convinced that they’re domestically bred. However, ask to see and examine the bird in person before you purchase it if you want to protect yourself from fraud.

There are many instances of unscrupulous online resellers thumbing off distressed and sick birds to unsuspecting customers. Since African Greys are hunted worldwide because of their value as pets, it’s better to cross check their exact breeding.

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If African Grey parrot facts were widely known, perhaps some long held misunderstandings about these beautiful birds wouldn’t exist. In spite of their drab looks, African Greys are some of the most intelligent and enthusiastic parrots you can come across in the whole world.

African Greys are matched only by ‘Eclectus’ parrots in learning skills. Once you get to deeply understand them, you’ll realize that African Grey parrots offer a much richer parrot owning experience than other more colorful varieties of parrots.

Now let’s get to know a few amazing facts about African grey Parrots.

Most African Grey Parrots have a bright red tinge on the inner side of their tails…

This is what helps identify African Grey parrots from amongst other grey parrots worldwide. Of course, an expert wouldn’t find it difficult to differentiate between the two. Unfortunately some pet shop owners are known to thumb off ordinary grey parrots as African Greys to unsuspecting customers.

The red in the inner tail is a rule of thumb to be used in identifying African Greys. They also have a trademark black beak.

Probably the most amazing amongst all African Grey Parrot facts is that there are two kinds of African Greys. If you were thinking that the African Grey parrot referred to a single variety, you may have to think again. There are two distinct varieties of African Greys:

• Congo African Grey
• Timneh African Grey

There are however, distinct differences between the two:

The most marked amongst the variations is the huge difference in size between the Congo and Timneh parrots. Timneh African Greys look significantly smaller than Congo African Grey Parrots. Some of the most prominent African Grey parrot facts are mentioned below.

- African Grey parrots have a bright red inner tail
- Their fluffed up feather defense mechanism is quite unique
- Their intelligence far surpasses all other parrot varieties
- African Greys are the best speakers among all the parrots combined
- They can reproduce whole phrases and sometimes even whole sentences
- Most African Greys live longer than their owners
- They chew a lot!
- African Greys are true friends for life provided you train them well

The most well known fact amongst all the other African Grey parrot facts is that African Greys are much more intelligent and understanding than other parrots…

Though training parrots is a nightmare, African Grey Parrots usually form very good bonds with their owners and are known to be extremely adept at learning tricks and repeating human speech. This behavior vaguely relates to the disproportionate amount of time that African Grey parrot babies spend in their flock before they leave. Their intelligence might be directly related to the longer time they spend learning from their flocks.

Most African Greys in the wild tend to spend most of their lives with one partner. Though this may not be applicable in cases where African Greys are flocked together in confined spaces, they generally express strong monogamous tendencies at all times. In the wild they’re known to nest in tree holes.

Another interesting fact is that the most important defense mechanism amongst African Greys is the habit of fluffing up their feathers to look scary to predators. This is their natural reaction to threats even if they’re tamed and docile. Now that you know all the basic African Grey parrot facts, you might understand them well enough to decide whether you want to buy one or not.

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