Grey Parrots decline across Africa

STATE: What we know about the changing state of birds

Grey Parrots decline across Africa

The Grey Parrot Psittacus erithacus is one of the most popular avian pets. Unfortunately, the excessively high demand for this species by the cage-bird trade means that it is now disappearing fast in the wild. According to a study involving BirdLife scientists, in the last two decades Ghana has lost 90-99% of its Grey Parrots. They noted the near-total loss of the major roosts in Ghana previously known in 1992. There was almost a tenfold reduction in the rate of birds observed from the 1990s to 2014, and 96% of almost a thousand residents interviewed during the study perceived a similar decline. Dedicated searching, including visits to roosts that held as many as 1,200 individuals 20 years ago, yielded just a handful of Grey Parrot sightings.

The situation for Grey Parrot is not only grim in Ghana, but in most of the West African region. The problems the species faces seem to be different in each country. It is faring better in the Congo Basin, but with thousands of birds trapped annually in the region, the Grey Parrot’s presence could eventually fade there too. Already, the large flocks that previously occurred around DR Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, are now reportedly gone. In 2016, BirdLife uplisted the species to Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and it was also added to CITES Appendix I, meaning that all international trade of wild caught birds should cease.

SOURCE Annorbah, N. N. D., Collar, N., Marsden, S. J. 2016. Trade and habitat change virtually eliminate the Grey Parrot Psitacus erithacus from Ghana Ibis 158: 82-91

Wild-caught African Grey Parrots in a cage. (PHOTO: ©Lwira Sanctuary)