Casco

Gray parrot or Congo gray parrot or African gray parrot (Psittacus erithacus), which is known as Casco in Iran, is a member of the parrot family and one of the true parrots.  This bird is one of the most popular parrots in many countries of the world.  In past years, the Timneh parrot (Psittacus timneh) was known as a subspecies of the casco, but now it is recorded as a separate species.

This bird is a medium-sized parrot.  The average body size of the gray parrot is 33 cm and its weight is about 400 to 500 grams.  The average size of its wing tip to wing when it spreads its wings is 56-46 cm.  The color of the propil is gray and the tips of the wings and tail are white and the color of the tail is red.  The tail is light gray and the legs are dark gray.  The beak color of the bird is black and the eye color of the adult bird is bright yellow, and both males and females are similar in appearance.  The body of some mutant examples of this bird is completely red or parts of their body are red. [1] After puberty, this bird reproduces throughout its life, usually around 40 to 60 years in captivity and around 23 years.  It lives in nature. [2]

Casco lives in the tropical regions of the African continent, which includes the countries of Kenya, Uganda, Congo, Angola, Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, and Ivory Coast.  The number of this bird in nature is decreasing.[1][3]

In nature, cascos are shy and mysterious birds that usually live in dense and remote forest areas, and for this reason, there is not much information about their behavior and how they live in the wild.  Some observations show that cascos produce different and interesting sounds in nature, and many of these sounds are imitations of the sounds of other birds and animals in their surroundings.

feeding

In nature, this bird feeds mostly on fruits, vegetables, seeds, grains, nuts, dry fruits (such as pistachios, walnuts, almonds, seeds and hazelnuts), plant seeds, tree trunks, insects and snails.  In captivity, they feed on foods such as baked potatoes and green beans, and in this situation, feeding from a source containing calcium is also necessary.[4]

reproduction

Cascos are monogamous and usually choose tree hollows as nests and egg-laying sites.  The female lays between 3 and 5 eggs and sleeps on them for 30 days and takes care of them.  During this period, the male feeds his mate and together they defend their eggs, chicks and nest.  The chicks weigh about 12 grams when they hatch and are fed and cared for by their parents for four to five weeks and usually leave the nest after 12 weeks.[5]

Age determination

Edit

Cascos have completely black eyes until the age of 6 months, after 6 months it becomes smoky, then it becomes lighter and white appears around the pupil.  Over time, the whites of the eyes turn yellow and orange. The old bird is bigger and a little nervous.

Casco intelligence

While determining the level of intelligence in animals and judging which one has more intelligence is practically a difficult and difficult task, but many scientists believe that parrots are the best among birds in this respect.  In the meantime, Casco ranks higher than the others by having the power of perception.  Some studies have shown that Casco's intelligence level is in some ways equal to that of a 4-6-year-old human, and this bird has feelings such as caring and liking others. [6] Some also believe that Casco is not only a mimic of words, but he is capable of  to understand the real meaning of the words.  Dr. Arin Piperberg in his book "Studies about Alex" states: "Cosco is able to understand the meaning of words very well.  This bird can understand the concept of zero and completely understand the absence of a thing.  Also, during the investigations, it was found that the tested Kaskoi learned about 100 words and notices the differences in the types of objects, their shape and color, and differentiates between them.[7]

Of course, what has been said does not mean that the brain of this bird acts like a human brain, but it means that this brain can relate some logical issues to each other and analyze them at a very low level.