Psittacus erithacus
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus), also known as the Congo grey parrot, is an African parrot in the family Psittacidae. Psittacus erithacus was previously also known as the African grey parrot until the Timneh parrot (Psittacus timneh), previously treated as a subspecies, was elevated to a full species. The grey parrot is known for its intelligence, being considered one of the smartest bird species and is regarded for its speaking abilities.
The grey parrot was formally described in 1758 by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of Systema Naturae. He placed it with all other parrots in the genus Psittacus and coined the binomial name Psittacus erithacus. Linnaeus erroneously specified the type locality as "Guinea": the locality was later designated as Ghana in West Africa. The genus name is Latin for "parrot". The specific epithet erithacus is Latin and is derived from the Ancient Greek εριθακος (erithakos) for an unknown bird that was said to mimic human sounds, perhaps the black redstart.
The Timneh parrot was formerly treated as a subspecies of the grey parrot, but is now considered a separate species based mainly on results from a genetic and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Odzala-Kokoua National Park | 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo | |
| 2 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 3 | Semuliki National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 5 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Brazzaville | 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo | |
| 3 | Lagos | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 4 | Accra | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 5 | Luanda | 🇦🇴 Angola |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Grey Parrot sighting in Queen Elizabeth National Park on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 418th most-seen of the 434 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Grey Parrot in Queen Elizabeth National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May to March, the lowest months. That is one of Queen Elizabeth National Park's wettest months, with about 150 mm of rain against 15 mm in January.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Grey Parrot sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Grey Parrot sightings, Queen Elizabeth National Park ranks 5th at under 5%. The best odds are in Odzala-Kokoua National Park (Republic of the Congo, about 40%), Kibale National Park (Uganda, about 30%) and Semuliki National Park (Uganda, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Grey Parrot is recorded against all the birds logged in Queen Elizabeth National Park (5 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
