Grey parrot

Grey parrot

We are delighted that Hildegard Gundelach has taken on the sponsorship of a grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus).

Its enormous fame and popularity come at a high price: although successful captive breeding has led to a slight decline in wild-caught birds for the global pet trade since the 1990s, the grey parrot, which originally comes from the rainforests and other wooded areas of West and Central Africa, is still being removed from its natural habitat on a massive scale for the wild bird trade. The ongoing destruction of the habitat is doing the rest: on the IUCN Red List, grey parrots are listed as "near threatened" and are therefore on the early warning list for endangered species.

In the wild, these birds are rather shy towards humans, but they exhibit pronounced social behaviour amongst themselves: In the mornings and evenings, they spend time in large, noisy flocks in the treetops. During the day, they climb in smaller groups in the trees or on the ground in search of food - mainly fruit and seeds, but also flowers and other parts of plants. They form a family with a permanent partner, with whom they form a lifelong pair bond. They build their nests in tree hollows high up in the canopy. The male feeds and guards the female throughout the breeding season. And even after the young hatch from the egg after 30 days and are raised in the nest for a further 12 weeks, both parents continue to look after their offspring intensively for some time.