African Grey Parrot - Taxonomy and Systematics

Taxonomy and Systematics

There are two subspecies universally accepted:

• Congo African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus erithacus):
  This is the nominate subspecies, larger than the Timneh at about 33 cm (13 in) long, with light grey feathers, cherry red tails, and an all-black beak. Immature birds of this subspecies have tails with a darker, duller red towards the tip (Juniper and Parr 1999) until their first moult, which occurs by 18 months of age. These birds also initially have grey irises, which change to a pale yellow colour by the time the bird is a year old. The Congo Grey parrot is found on the islands of Príncipe and Bioko and is distributed from southeastern Ivory Coast to western Kenya, northwest Tanzania, southern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and northern Angola. In aviculture, it is often called a "CAG".
• Timneh African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus timneh, or Psittacus timneh):
  These are smaller in size, have a darker charcoal grey colouring, a darker maroon tail, and a light, horn-coloured area to part of the upper mandible. The Timneh Grey parrot is endemic to the western parts of the moist Upper Guinea forests and bordering savannas of West Africa from Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, and southern Mali east to at least 70 km (43 mi) east of the Bandama River in Ivory Coast. It is often called a "TAG". As pets, Timnehs begin learning to speak earlier than Congos and are often said to be less nervous around strangers and novel situations. In 2012 Birdlife International gave Timneh Parrot full species status and it was classified as Vulnerable.

Some aviculturalists recognize a third and fourth subspecies, but these are not distinguishable in scientific studies.