Psittacus erithacus timneh ................................................By Gideon Scheepers

Description

The Timneh is dark grey above with a soft grey on the lower abdomen. The tail is a dark maroon to brown colour. The upper mandible is horn coloured and they have a white bare patch on the face. The iris is silver in colour and the feet are grey. They are 28 cm in length.

Range and Habitat

These little parrots come from Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia and the Ivory Coast. They can often be seen in groups at feeding times, but pair off and the breeding season, choosing a very tight fitting nest hollow in a tree.

 

 

 

Housing in Aviculture

They are well suited to suspended aviaries and our breeding success has been far greater in these than in conventional aviaries. Our aviaries are 60 cm X 60-cm X 1.2-m .I supply my pairs with oversized lovebird style nestboxes. They get lots of fresh branches to keep them busy and two sturdy perches in the front and rear of the aviaries.

 

Breeding in Aviculture

They are not as easy to get breeding as the Red Tail Grey, but once the start they can be quite prolific. My pairs do not have a season, and will go down anytime of the year, they usually give me about 12-14 chicks a season. I find that they need a secluded spot for their aviary, as they do not like disturbances. They lay 3-4 eggs and incubation lasts for 28 days, they youngsters fledge at 10 weeks. I take my chicks out at 14 days old and they are then handreared into the most wonderful little birds. We supply fresh wood shavings/chips after every breeding and they really get in there and rearrange the nestbox according to their liking. The hen incubates the eggs but my males are always in the box with the hen. They are great parents and the chicks are always fed. I have also found that they like a dark shallow nestbox.

Pet Quality

These parrots are excellent talkers and are very underrated as pets, they make wonderful pets, and they don't have hang-ups like the Red Tails and the Amazons. They will go to anybody and tend to be good with kids. We recommend these parrots to all potential pet owners , only problem is I can't breed enough of them to satisfy the demand.

Mutations

One that comes along every now and again is one that has brown (cinnamon ?) markings , I have heard that there was a dilute , but no further info available, If you know of any please contact me at info@thomasriver.co.za. a pic would be appreciated.

 

Books On Greys (Can now be bought online)

Well known as an authority and writer on parrots, author Wolfgang de Grahl recounts his own experiences from many years of keeping and caring for Grey Parrots. In addition, he has assembled reports and observations from parrot lovers spanning more than a century. The result is a multifaceted portrayal of the character and behavior of Grey Parrots, both as a species and as individuals.

(I recommend this book, I own one myself, this book showed exactlly what happened when my birds bred for the first time, very informative, good history on the Greys...Gideon, Thomasriver Aviaries)

This is a good book on general care of pet African Greys, it covers all aspects of keep African Greys from feeding, caging and general care. This is a must have if you own or plan to own one of these wonderful birds as pets

 

 

 

Click on book for pricing and to purchase

Good general book on most of the commonly kept parrots. Well worth the money.

 

 

Click on book for pricing and to purchase