About
The Grey has been a cherished pet in Europe since the reign on Henry VIII during the sixteenth century, and possibly even earlier.

They are sometimes called growlers because of the noise they make when approached.

The irises start to change from grey to yellow when the bird is about five months old.

There can be considerable variation in the depth of the grey coloration. Lighter birds often advertised as Silvers and are generally more expensive.

Timneh subspecies from the western part of the grey's range, are often cheaper. They are smaller with a pinkish upper mandible and black tip. Instead of the bright red tail feathers, those of the Timneh are almost maroon.

Playing and Interaction

Grey parrots need a considerable amount of attention if they are kept on their own indoors. They are extremely intelligent birds, and need constant stimulation, to prevent boredom.

Toys and perching places can help, but ideally they should have human company.


BREEDING:

It is not unusual for a single grey hen to lay a clutch of eggs, though of course these will not be fertile.
Once you have a breeding pair, there is a period of approximately four weeks of incubation, the chicks then hatch. If parent rearing they should leave the nest when three months old.



Oliver is one of the few birds that have that has been bought. He was my birthday gift from my partner and mom. He is just starting to talk, is very interested in everything that is going on around him. He has some quirky habits, one of which is to feed and preen me (he thinks I'm his mate) he is very special and we bonded at first sight.

14-7-01
Oliver now imitates the telephone with accuracy, and he also says Hello, as he is just learning he is having lots of fun imitating the dogs barking too.

Latest Update.30th December 2001

We Have a young (16 week old) African grey who has just joined us (as our own pet) he goes by the name Ainsley. He is very different to Ollie, in the fact that he is very adventurous at such an early stage and very chatty. It took Ollie nearly 12 months to grasp the full talking bits and his vocabulary has grown and holds a very captive audience. He calls the dogs by name, he gives them orders and he generally chats. Ainsley seems to have grasped a lot of it already, mimicking Ollie, and whistles a lot. Pictures of Ainsley and Oliver due soon, (check out the photo page


21st April 2002,

Both Ainsley & Oliver now share a cage and they get on brilliantly. They can have the odd squabble but that's if they both want to be sat with me at the same time. Their vocabulary has grown immensely over the last few months. The strange thing has to be that a lot of the time they actually make sense!!!!!

Ainsley loves to creep up under my chin, tilt his head and say "Hello I am a good boy", They really are a pleasure to share our lives with.

31st July 2002

What can I say, Ollie & Ainsley are both settled, happy, talkative and love nothing better than to give mom a kiss, with all the slurpy noises.



17th July 2003

Sadly Oliver died on the 14th of December, 3 days before his 2nd birthday. He is greatly missed and tears still flow for the loss of a very special guy.
Ollie was cremated and his casket stays with me, just so I can always have him close by. I would have traded the world to have him sitting on my shoulder or cuddling me again, but alas he is free of pain and hopefully flying young and free again.

Ainsley is not so mopey or sad anymore, its hard to think that its been 7 months since we lost Ollie, as not a day goes by that I dont think of him, yet it seems like a life time that I have been missing his love. Ainsley is becoming a real talker, he does not have the usual grey standoffishness, he just goes plowing in and wants to check everything out. Ainsley is now 1 1/2 years old and a real baby still.

PLEASE NEVER BUY AN UNWEANED BABY