The African Grey or Congo Grey (approximately 11 to 14 inches) is everyone’s favorite. Whether or not you desire to own a Congo Grey, we all are in awe of this bird’s amazing ability to mimic the human voice, complete with inflection and appropriate response and timing.

Our Carlos was 15 years old when he came to live at The Beak. He came with an interesting array of machine shop sounds but one week after arriving here he already was whistling for and calling Rebel, our Golden Retriever. In a week we were able to teach him “Go Dodgers” We keep this pretty quiet though, not real popular in San Diego!

The Congo Grey is highly intelligent and as such, requires an owner that can provide a lot of time, attention, challenge, plenty of daily exercise and entertainment. This is definitely a companion bird that you want to devote time early on to boundaries, training and expectations. Don’t let this bird get ahead of you, you will never catch up.

The Grey becomes very attached to its owners. It can tend to be a one person bird and this is not necessarily the person who chose to have the Grey. There is some thought that Greys prefer the opposite sex from themselves in their owners. This, of course, is worth considering but nothing in the animal world is absolute.

For our Greys we feed a good parrot seed mix (can be pellets and seed) enhanced with brown rice, root vegetables such as carrots and sweet potatoes, all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Sunflower seeds, peanuts and almonds work great as special treats. Vegetables and fruits should not be token additions to your parrot’s diet, they are equally as important as the seed, pellets and grains. As always, begin early introducing new foods so they will grow up being receptive to new things.