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  Profile

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  In flight

Parrots

African Grey Parrot

Psittacus erithacus

• rare
• 64 km/h
• Endangered

Can learn 1,000+ words. Might recite your message back to you verbatim, plus commentary.

Population

Uncertain, roughly 560,000–12.7 million mature individuals globally per the 2021 IUCN/BirdLife reassessment (based on underlying 2006 survey data), declining; West African populations reduced to an estimated ~40,000–100,000

Habitat

Dense lowland moist forest, forest edges, gallery forests, mangroves, wooded savanna, and cultivated/cleared areas, from sea level up to about 2,200 m

Fun fact

African Grey Parrots are renowned for exceptional vocal-mimicry and cognitive ability, most famously demonstrated by the research subject Alex, who learned to use over 100 English words and grasp concepts like number and shape.

Range

Equatorial West and Central Africa, from southeastern Côte d'Ivoire east through Ghana, Cameroon, and the Congo Basin to Uganda, Kenya, and western Tanzania, plus island populations on São Tomé, Príncipe, and Bioko

Diet

Primarily fruit, nuts, and seeds (including oil palm fruit), supplemented with flowers, tree bark, and occasionally insects and snails

Size

0.33 m

Wingspan

0.49 m

Lifespan

23 years