Post by Jane on Sept 2, 2005 13:22:18 GMT -7
The African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus) has two recognised subspecies. The first to be discovered was the Congo or CAG (Psittacus erithacus erithacus) followed by the Timneh or TAG (Psittacus erithacus timneh).
Congo is actually a common or popular name covering Greys from several areas of Africa not just the Congo. CAGs are generally larger than TAGs, they have all-black beaks and a bright red tail. CAGs vary in their shades of grey but TAGs tend to be darker. TAGs have a pale beige coloured area on the upper beak and the tail is a much duller dark browny maroon colour.
The intelligence and talking potential is the same but TAGs are sometimes said to be less shy and sensitive, less likely to be one person birds, less likely to change their favourite person and more likely to talk earlier. One of the theories for this is thought to be that in the wild TAGs leave their parents earlier than CAGs and have a shorter period of development which in captivity can come across as a more stable nature during the early months.
However, African Greys are all individuals and have different personalities; some are more nervous than others anyway and talking age varies enormously.
Jane
Congo is actually a common or popular name covering Greys from several areas of Africa not just the Congo. CAGs are generally larger than TAGs, they have all-black beaks and a bright red tail. CAGs vary in their shades of grey but TAGs tend to be darker. TAGs have a pale beige coloured area on the upper beak and the tail is a much duller dark browny maroon colour.
The intelligence and talking potential is the same but TAGs are sometimes said to be less shy and sensitive, less likely to be one person birds, less likely to change their favourite person and more likely to talk earlier. One of the theories for this is thought to be that in the wild TAGs leave their parents earlier than CAGs and have a shorter period of development which in captivity can come across as a more stable nature during the early months.
However, African Greys are all individuals and have different personalities; some are more nervous than others anyway and talking age varies enormously.
Jane