THE African Grey Parrot is one of the smartest birds in the world. It is almost human in its ability to mimic sounds, talk and identify colours. It is even reputed to be able to count. One famous parrot called N’kisi reportedly had a vocabulary of 1200 words and could talk in sentences! Another, Alex, could relate words to objects.
As the name implies, it is predominantly grey in colour with patches of white and a red or maroon tail.
African Greys were popular pets even 4000 years ago. Unlike other birds they are expensive to maintain and require a great deal of personal attention. Talking to the bird, giving it new and interesting toys to play with and even letting it out for a few hours – are essential to its survival.
Laboratory studies show that if properly trained, they can have vocabularies of over 1000 words and can even comprehend the concept of zero.