African Grey Parrot, Ezra

Talking African Grey Parrots
African Grey Parrots are usually of either the Congo or the Timneh varieties.  Both the Congo African Grey Parrot and the Timneh African Grey Parrot can imitate the human voice and other sounds so accurately that it can be difficult to tell whether it is the parrot making the sound or the original sound itself.  African Grey Parrots possess intelligence which goes far beyond mere mimicry.  They tend to associate sounds with their sources, be they the humans who voice these sounds or the mechanisms which produce them, such as telephones, microwaves, and doorbells.  It is not unusual, therefore, for an African Grey, upon sighting a familiar person who has just walked into the room, to repeat a phrase that the African Grey has heard that person speaking.  It is also not unusual for an African Grey to make the appropriate sounds for the time of day, such as the microwave beep at lunch time or "bye-bye" at the usual times when people leave the African Grey's presence.

African Greys can often call their human companions by name.  They have also been known to request different types of food by naming them.  Some African Greys can count and identify colors of objects placed in front of them.

Ezra is a Congo African Grey who has two homes:  one in a house and the other in an office.  Ezra talks, laughs, whistles, holds phone conversations, and even sings "Bird is the word".  Furthermore, he answers human questions, such as "What's a pig say?" or "Would you like a peanut?"  To hear Ezra, please visit his homepage.

New!  Ezra's Photo Album - August 2000

Photo, background, and text copyright 2000 by Adele Wilson.