African Grey Parrot

Copyright: AW/monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Kinshasa, Dec 2010

Bird name: African Grey Parrot
Latin: Psittacus erithacus
Other:
Family: Psittacidae • Parrots
Range: West & Central Africa: Ivory Coast, Kenya, Tanzania, DRC Congo, Angola etc

This pair of African Grey Parrots were flying freely around this building in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Beautiful long-lived birds, often kept as pets, unfortunately, for their remarkable speaking abilities. The African Grey Parrot is often thought of as one of the most intelligent of birds.

Since they are normally forest birds, perhaps these two had escaped.

This subspecies is P. e. erithacus is known as the Congo African Grey Parrot. It has a bright red tail, light grey feathers, and black bill.

Near-threatened on IUCN Red List 3.1.