Timneh African Grey
Appearance of the Timneh African Grey
The African Grey Parrot can be split up into two subgroups, the Timneh African Grey (Psittacus erithacus timneh) and the Congo African Grey (Psittacus erithacus erithacus). Once you know what to look for you can easily tell the difference between the Timneh and the Congo African Grey. The Timneh is slightly smaller than the Congo and the tail of the Congo is more red than then Timneh. The tail feathers of the Timneh are maroon in color and the overall feather color is a darker grey than the Congo (especially on their back side), but this is not always true. The beak of the Timneh has two different colors; the lower mandible is grey, while the upper mandible is bone colored and has a dark edge. In comparison, the Congo’s beak is completely grey.
Timneh African Grey
Timneh African Grey Temperament
There is a lot of discussion over whether the Timneh and the Congo display differences in temperament. Some argue that the Timneh are more relaxed than the Congos and less prone to neurotic behavior, such as feather picking or biting. Other people in the field say that there is no difference. Either way, there are definitely differences between individual parrots of both subspecies due to genetics and upbringing.
Timneh African Grey Life Span
A Timneh African Grey can live a long long time, so you need to prepare yourself for a 50 year commitment or longer before you buy one.
African Grey Cages and Feeding
It is very important that you get an appropriate African Grey Cage and feed your African Grey properly.
Timneh African Grey Intelligence
The Timneh’s, as well as the Congo’s, are super intelligent. You may have heard of Alex the African Grey before. He is the most famous African Parrot and he has been studied for years. Alex is able to process information that Dr. Irene Pepperberg (the lady that studies Alex) gives him and Alex is able to choose the correct words to formulate a response. Alex can also understand concepts like shape and color, in other words, he is thinking and responding rather than just displaying trained behaviors.
Timneh African Grey Talking
Timneh African Greys are very good at mimicking human speech. Although most Timneh parrots will learn to speak well, not all will. They can have a vocabulary of up to 2000 words. As well as mimicking words, a Timneh will mimic household sounds such as a doorbell or telephone. They can do it so well, they often fool their owners!
Studies with Alex and experiences with other African Parrots has shown that these parrots are able to speak and mimic sounds in the right context, rather than just repeat them randomly. That requires a lot of information processing and intelligence on their part.
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