Gray parrot

Gray parrots live in Africa.

They live in wet forests with tall trees. At night, lots of parrots sleep together in the same trees.

Gray parrots live in the forests of West and Central Africa. Their range stretches from Côte d'Ivoire in the west, through Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon, across the Congo forests to Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania in the east, and south to northern Angola. They also live on some islands in the Gulf of Guinea.

They mostly live in thick, wet lowland forest, but they also visit forest edges, clearings, mangroves, farms and even gardens.

According to the IUCN, P. erithacus ranges from southeastern Côte d'Ivoire east through the moist lowland forests of West Africa to Cameroon, through the Congo forests to just east of the Albertine Rift in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, and south to northern Angola, as well as on Príncipe, São Tomé and Bioko (Equatorial Guinea). The similar Timneh parrot of the far west is now treated as a separate species.

It typically inhabits dense forest but is also seen at forest edges, clearings, gallery forest, mangroves, wooded savanna, cultivated areas and gardens, although the IUCN notes it is unclear whether birds in such places form self-sustaining populations. In West Africa it moves seasonally out of the driest parts of its range.

Gray parrots eat fruit, nuts and seeds.

They crack open hard shells with their strong beaks. They hold food with their feet, like a hand.

Gray parrots eat mostly fruits, nuts and seeds, and sometimes leaves, flowers, bark and insects. They feed in small groups of up to about 30 birds.

Sometimes they come down to the ground to feed. Before they do, they gather in a bare tree, sometimes hundreds of birds together, then drop down in waves, so the whole flock is never on the ground at once.

The IUCN describes a diet of a variety of fruits and seeds, taken in feeding groups of up to 30 birds; Animal Diversity Web adds that nuts and fruits are supplemented with leaves, insects, bark and flowers, and that the birds may disperse the seeds of fruits they eat.

Ground feeding is approached cautiously. Animal Diversity Web describes flocks filling a bare tree with hundreds of birds that preen and call, then descending in waves so that the whole group is never on the ground at the same time. The IUCN notes that birds gather at traditional drinking and mineral lick sites, which makes them easy targets for trappers.

Gray parrots live in big, noisy flocks.

They call to each other in the morning and evening. A famous parrot named Alex learned many words and could count!

In the wild, gray parrots roost together in huge, noisy flocks, calling loudly in the morning and evening. During the day they split into smaller groups to look for food. Their calls help flock members find each other and warn of danger. The San Diego Zoo notes that wild gray parrots do not copy the sounds around them the way pet parrots do.

Scientist Irene Pepperberg worked with a gray parrot named Alex from 1977 until he died in 2007. Alex learned more than 100 words for objects, actions and colors, and could count groups of objects up to six.

Wild flocks are highly gregarious: historically, roosts held up to 10,000 birds (IUCN). Animal Diversity Web describes daily choruses at dawn and dusk and distinct contact, alarm and begging calls, learned from parents and flockmates.

In captivity, gray parrots are a model species for animal cognition. Irene Pepperberg worked with Alex from 1977 until his death in 2007 at age 31. According to the Alex Foundation, Alex used more than 100 vocal labels for objects, actions and colors, identified some objects by material, counted sets up to six and developed a zero-like concept. Her research compares such abilities with those of great apes, marine mammals and young children (Alex Foundation).

There are fewer gray parrots in the wild than before.

Many were caught to be sold as pets. Now there are rules to keep wild parrots in their forests.

The gray parrot is endangered. For many years, huge numbers were caught in the wild and sold as pets in other countries, and many died before they were even sold. Its forests are also being cut down, and losing big trees with nesting holes may be especially harmful.

Under an international treaty called CITES, which controls trade in wild animals and plants, the gray parrot has been moved to Appendix I. Anyone who wants a pet parrot should make sure it was not taken from the wild.

BirdLife International's assessment for the IUCN Red List (2021) lists P. erithacus as Endangered because trapping for the international trade, combined with ongoing habitat loss, is suspected to be driving rapid declines. From 1982 to 2014, more than 1.3 million wild-caught birds of this species and the Timneh parrot entered international trade, and pre-export death rates of 30 to 66 percent mean far more were taken. Local declines have been noted in ten countries, including Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria and Kenya.

The species was moved from CITES Appendix II to Appendix I. Smallholder agroforestry plots in Cameroon may help, by keeping feeding and nesting trees on farmland.