African Grey parrots come in two distinct sub-species, the Timneh African Grey and the Congo African Grey Parrots. The African Grey Congo is the larger of the two species growing to about 13 inches long. They have light grey feathers, bright red tails, and a black beak. The African Grey Congo parrot is found on the islands of Príncipe and Bioko and is distributed from Côte d'Ivoire to Kenya, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The African Grey Congo is considered an extremely intelligent bird second with a vocabulary that is unbelievable. They can speak and remember up to 2000 words and are not only excellent speakers, they're excellent mimics. Many owners claim their Congos not only speak to them, they also understand much of what is said to them - they understand language in context. They're also incredibly affectionate birds and prefer to bond to one person. This tendency to choose one person with the exclusion of all others can be overcome with proper socialization and regular training.

However this intelligence and desire to spend a lot of time with their owners and family means that owners absolutely must spend a lot of time and attention with their Congo. We're talking about a minimum of three hours a day? Why so much? Because the African Grey Congo is wicked smart and they need the stimulation and exercise.

Without it, they become bored. I don't know about you but when I'm bored, I get really grumpy. The same thing happens with your African Grey Congo. When they don't get the attention and exercise they need, they become grumpy and biting and screaming - two extremely unpleasant behaviors, can result.

Stress from changes in their environment and a general fearfulness also leads them to be chronic feather pluckers. Feather plucking can be a real problem for Congo owners and can be avoided with proper attention, training, and a care to provide an optimal environment.

So what is an optimal environment for a African Grey Congo? It starts with a large and sturdy cage filled with clean toys, food, and fresh water. Place the cage in an area that receives natural sun and is free from drafts. Your Congo will also be happy if you place their cage in an area of your home that is most frequently occupied by you and your family members.

The ideal food for your African Grey will be an organic pellet based diet with an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables every day. Seeds and nuts are ideal for treats and rewards during the day.

The African Grey's intelligence also requires regular training. Training not only helps establish a strong bond between you and your bird, it helps to establish structure, rules of the home (rules like no biting) and it positions you as the dominant member of the family. If that isn't enough, regular training keeps your African Grey Congo's mind busy and adaptable - it challenges their problem solving skills and keeps them stimulated. Regular training also prevents and helps to eliminate any behavior issues.

African Greys can live up to 50 years in captivity, which means acquiring a Grey is an important decision - not one to be taken lightly. The require a special diet, plenty of attention and training, and their size and intelligence means they will need plenty of space to explore and toys to play with in a comfortable environment. In short, they need and deserve a lot of time, attention, and care. They're not the right bird for someone who isn't able to be home and spend time with them.

The ideal owner will have an abundance of time to spend with their Congo including time to train them, play with them, and simply hang out. Congos are too smart to just sit in their cage all day. As an ideal owner you will need to make sure your Congo's diet is complete, they get plenty of sleep, and they're provided an enriched environment - plenty of toys - when you're away. The Congo is an ideal companion bird for the right owner.

African Grey parrots are intelligent parrots that can learn to actually converse with their owners. They are also highly attuned to the moods of their owners. As such, they need an environment with very little change to avoid growing up to be skittish and frightful.

Congo African Grey parrots are native to Africa, specifically the Congo region as their name implies. Their bodies are almost entirely a pale shade of gray with bright red tail feathers. African Greys can be as big as thirteen inches in length.

Congo African Grey parrots like calm environments. Change is no good for them (sounds like a few people I know). Consistency is their motto. Any changes that are made need to be done over time so as not to alarm these lovely birds.

Parrots are fearful animals. In the wild, they wouldn't survive if they didn't keep their wits about them. Anything that resembles a predator can scare them. Upon bringing them home, show your African Grey around the room they will spend most of their time in.

Let them see everything from the rug to the throw pillows. Familiarity will keep them from seeing danger or feeling fear at every turn. This process is referred to as socialization; it is the process of familiarizing your Congo African Grey with their surroundings and easing them into change. It is helpful to socialize them both with people and inanimate objects.

Socialization is a slow and gradual process. This is when it is important to learn to interpret bird body language. It's not as hard as one might think. As humans, we do it every day. We use familiar cues to sense how another person is feeling. Clenched teeth indicate anger or frustration. A wrinkled brow could indicate worry or fear. A parrot is much the same.

Your African Grey could pick his feathers because he is fearful. For birds, they will continue to pick until they have picked them all. Excessive picking could damage the follicles and prevent future feathers from growing. A blood feather could be nicked and cause serious harm.

A skittish bird may scream, bite, hiss, or fly into the bars of the cage. Because African Greys are in tune with you, its owner, watching your behavior is important, too. He could be acting out as a result of your emotional state. Eye pinning can indicate an excited state and the bird may bite you if you get close to him then. Pinning occurs when the pupils dilate and contract in succession as a response to a stimulus.

I'm not suggesting bird yoga, just caution. Introduce new items to the bird's room, one step at a time. Changing everything while he sleeps could send you both to the hospital. When renovations are to be done, consider moving your Grey to another room. The same rules apply as far as introductions. It may take a few weeks before he can be established in the new room, but it is better than seeing him pick himself bald because of work being done in the old room.

Some birds could be skittish because of their toys. Any toy or room accessory that looks like a snake or another bird can send them flying around in fear. Large objects in their cage can scare them if it is bigger than they are. Remove any coiled or bird-like toys. Even a wind chime or mobile at the window can remind them of a predator overhead and cause skittishness.

Training techniques come in very handy when socializing your
Congo African Grey to new people or objects. For example, if you're trying to get them used to a new toy the toy can be placed in sight however several feet away from your Grey. When they so much as look at the object, they get a treat. If you're familiar with clicker training, they would get a click and a reward.

Over time the object is slowly moved toward the cage and each time the grey acknowledges the object they get a treat and a reward. Eventually, they'll become excited to see the object because it means their favorite foods.

They'll literally be sitting on the toy in order to grab a snack. This is a very abbreviated example of how socialization and training techniques work compatibly together. However, it illustrates the point that patience and persistence are required to overcome an African Grey's natural tendencies to be skittish.

If you are having problems with your Congo African Grey many times this can be attributed to their diet. Feeding your grey an all seed diet is extremely hard on their liver and can shorten their lives considerably due to the high fat content found in seeds. Not only does this shorten their life expectancy but can cause problems such as feather plucking, uncharacteristic biting, and screaming.

We have found over and over that if you switch your greys diet from an all seed diet to a diet consisting of quality organic pellets and a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegtables you will see drastic and often times immeadiate improvements. Below is a testimonial from someone in this very situation:
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From the very first email you had sent to me concerning my birds diet, I changed them from an all seed diet to an organic diet. They look and act so much better than ever. One of my birds was a feather picker, she looks terrific now. It's even changed their behavior. And for me, I now don't have to tolerate any more problems with those awful moths.

I have checked the ingredients on the foods that I give them and found, thank God, it doesn't contain any of the things that you mention in this
email. Thank you so much for all the information you have sent me. I haven't as of yet had the time to try an train my birds. Working alot of
hours, but I am hoping that soon I will.

Again, thank you so much for all your help and information. I am learning a lot about my birds and what the right thing to do with them.

God Bless you!
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We highly suggest checking out the possibility of switching to organic food. Here are a couple companies that provide quality stuff:

http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/
http://www.zupreem.com/animal/bird/index.shtml
http://www.feedyourflock.com

So if you're having some unexpected problems with your Congo African Grey re-evaluate his diet and make that the first thing you change. You might be pleasantly surprised at the results you find.