The African Grey Parrot is the most popular of all pet parrots in Canada; pet stores estimate that five times as many customers wish to purchase a Grey as wish to purchase any other type of large parrot. Even Queen Victoria owned a Grey, and specified in her will that when it died, it was to be stuffed and placed on the arm of her wax effigy in Madam Tussauds in London, where you can see it today.
Their popularity is well deserved. Among pet birds they take the top prize in speaking ability, their only rivals being the Mynah Bird and the Budgie, and learn the meanings of many of the words they say and will use them in context.( These are generalisations, however; all parrots are individuals and there will be some Greys who never say a single word and some who are extra prolific. In addition, there will always be some very talkative individuals of other species who rival or surpass the average Grey).
Another factor explaining their popularity is their quiet voice, relative to other parrots. Persons in apartments or with neighbours very nearby would do well to choose an African Grey. While most parrots have some sort of squawk or screech, the Grey's natural sounds consist mostly of clicks and whistles, though they can, of course, learn to imitate the sounds of other birds.
A third factor that attracts people to the Grey is their obvious intelligence. I would suggest that they are among the most intelligent parrots, along with the Bare-eye and Moluccan Cockatoos. Dr. Irene Pepperberg of the University of Arizona (currently visiting at M.I.T. web.media.mit.edu/ ... interpet.pdf) has been doing extensive studies of an African Grey named "Alex" for over twenty years, and compares parrot intelligence to that of a chimpanzee. Her book "The Alex Studies" makes fascinating reading, and you can check out her findings at www.alexfoundation.org.
In general, you will find that the Grey likes a quiet and private environment compared to other parrots. Breeders in locations like Florida, where the pairs were all placed outdoors in open, suspended cages, soon found that they had to hang tarps around the cages to enclose them and darken them more, in order to get their Greys to breed; they also discovered that the Greys preferred to be away from the sight and hearing of other, noisier species such as Cockatoos and Amazons. A friend of mine who owns a small pet store thought her pet Grey would enjoy spending the day beside the cash register when she was at work; after he started to pluck himself, she realised that although he did like being there, he needed to be in a quieter spot, in a corner some distance behind the counter.
Greys enjoy having their head scratched and a light stroking of the body, but in general are not as "touchy-feely" as a cockatoo or amazon; though the bird-to-human bond is just as strong,, it is not expressed as a desire for a lot of cuddling.
There are two subspecies of African Grey: the Congo and the Timneh. The Congo is the larger, with a bright red tail, and the Timneh is slightly smaller, with a maroon-coloured tail. We breed only the Congo. Timnehs are not frequently bred in Canada, but other breeders say there is little difference in personality between the Timneh and Congo.
