To confuse matters, the nominate species also appears to contain colour and size variants which may or may not be geographically defined. African Greys are medium sized parrots to 35cms. or more long in the largest forms. Congos' fall somewhat intermediate in size and colour, being varying shades of grey,almost white on the rump and possessing a brilliant, scarlet, short, rather square tail. The 'Timneh' sub-species is readily distinguished by being the smallest, having the darkest plumage, which in some cases can be closer to black than grey and with a deep maroon tail that is edged with brownish black. Greys predominantly inhabit the 'central band' of Africa with the Congo and it's variants found throughout, the 'Timneh' largely restricted to the west and the rare, endangered, but hardly distinguishable 'Princeps' found on the islands of Principe in the Gulf of Guinea.
Greys are gregarious by nature, often occurring in large flocks, ever watchful for predators.
Because of this, they are naturally nervous and quickly take to flight at the first hint of danger. They are considered by many to be amongst the most intelligent of parrot species and whilst their powers of mimicry are seldom observed in the wild, their potential for vocabulary and association when in captivity, are legendary. It has been noted on numerous occasions that when feeding on the fruits of trees, Grey will often climb down to another part of the tree rather than fly. Their short thickset bodies appear to be somewhat cumbersome compared to other parrots, nevertheless they can be very agile and have a powerful, swift and direct flight. Whilst youngsters are notioriously clumsy, they rapidly become accomplished acrobats.