African grey parrots live up to 80 years in the captivity, while they live a shorter life in the wild. They can live longer if they are kept in captivity with well care and if they have a large enough cage with a healthy diet, plenty of toys and perches, and regular interaction with humans.
This article is about the age factors of African greys and we will find out how we can determine the age of an African grey parrot?
There are few simple methods to determine the age of African grey parrots. Its adulthood starts from six months onwards, and at the age of 4-5 years, they can start breeding. Their colors and shapes remain the same from six months up to 4-5 years and therefore many people want to know the age of their African grey parrot if they are not aware of it.
The juvenile African grey parrot’s eyes color remains typically dark green to dark black in comparison an adult grey has light yellow to dark yellow.
Grey under six months of age will have dark grey or black eyes, and at the age of one year the eyes will turn into a lighter grey, as your bird reaches approximately two years old, its eyes will turn dark color. And the eyes will turn a light yellow between the ages of 3-5 as it reaches maturity age or you can call it has become fully adult and can start breeding.
There is also a white circle in the center of the eye, if that white circle is smaller then it means the grey is still very young. That white circle grows bigger and bigger as the grey gets older. If you scare your bird or its angry then the white circle in the center of eyes can become bigger for few seconds that is just a condition and that you should not consider to determine the age of the grey.
African grey parrot molds between the ages of one and half years or two years so that is also a good way to determine its age. You can check your grey signs of shedding. Moulting is the procedure by which birds shed their older juvenile feathers and grow in their adult fluff. Your grey parrot will shed between the ages of 18 and 24 months, helping you to predict its age.
Another method of age determining is that every size of African grey measures between 12-14 inches from its beak to tail and weight between 400-600 grams, so a bird smaller than these measurements in terms of size and weight would be a younger one.
There are a few ways to determine the age of an African grey parrot. One of them is to look at the rings on its legs. The rings will tell you how old the bird is and by looking at them you can see how many years it has been alive.
Through the beak also you can guess the age of your bird, an African grey parrot’s beak has several rings that correspond with its age. The more rings there are, the older the bird is.
The color of African grey’s beak will show you what phase of life it is in and that can help you determine how old it is. The colors in their beaks change as they grow older and if you know what colors correspond with which stages, then you can more accurately estimate their age based on their beak color. The cleaner dark beak means your bird is still young and is less than a year. The beak becomes rough and with whitish from darker when the bird becomes adult.
Also, one of the most common techniques is to look at the bird’s feathers.
The African grey parrot starts to lose its baby feathers at around one year old. The second set of feathers, which are more developed and darker, will start to grow at around two years old. At three years, the third set of feathers will grow in and this is when the bird will start to look like an adult with a full head of dark feathers.
The colors of African grey look the same as the younger bird and if it grows older than six months until its adulthood.
However, if you want to know the accurate age of your African grey parrot, then seek advice from an avian specialist vet for an examination. A pet doctor may be able to help you determine your bird’s age. A skilled vet has seen many African Grey parrots and can verify the age range of the bird from behavior and health signs that we may not see.
You may like to know this African Grey Parrot Male or Female? (Determine Gender of African Grey)
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