One of the problems in introducing two Greys as a potential breeding pair is that, even though they may be of the opposite sex, they will not necessarily prove compatible. Some of the larger parrots are extremely discriminating over the choice of a mate.

A guide to sexing these birds was offered by E. J. Boosey, who received the Avicultural Society's medal for the first breeding of this species in Britain, in 1945. He suggested that in the female the head feathers are usually ruffled, whereas they are usually sleek and flat in the male; that the male's eyes appear round and wide open and the female's are slit-eyed; that the female's beak leaves the skull at a slightly outward angle.

Courtship behaviour in Grey Parrots consists mainly of head pumping; sometimes they will run along the perch with wings lowered, to display the red tail, and head down. When they come into breeding condition, the temperament of tame birds in aviaries can alter drastically towards their owner.

Greys lay three or four, more rarely five, eggs, with an interval of two or three days between the laying of each egg. The incubation period is 28 or 30 days.

The earliest breeding record for this species is quoted by Buffon (Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux, Vol VI). A pair belonging to a M. de la Pigeoniere in France had reared young for five or six consecutive years in the early 1770s. Four eggs were invariably laid, one of which would be infertile.

The first success described in Britain took place in 1843. A nest of flannel was made for the female and put in a copper near a fireplace. She incubated for exactly four weeks and one chick was hatched and reared. Since then Grey Parrots have been bred in many countries through­out the world but very, very few avi­culturists have established aviary-bred strains. Females lay readily in captivity and this applies equally to caged pet birds as to those in aviaries.

The subspecies timneh has been bred, at Busch Gardens, Tampa, Florida, and by Tony Silva in Illinois, USA. K. W. Dalton of Worcestershire, in England, reared a youngster from a timneh male paired to a female of the nominate race. When it left the nest at the age of 13 weeks it had the reddish brown tail of the male parent. This race has also been bred at Vogelpark Walsrode, Germany. In 1977 a pair reared two young in a large mixed aviary of African parrots in the parrot house. Young have also been reared in Rostock Zoo, in East Germany.

The affection of Grey Parrot pairs is demonstrated by an incident concern­ing a pair of Greys which were regu­larly offered one or two sugar-coated chocolate drops each. The owner would call the incubating female out of the nest so that she did not miss this treat. However, when a chick hatched, a female failed to appear for her chocolate. Rather than eat his mate's share, the male carried one to the nest hole and passed it to the female.

The Grey has never hybridised with another species. Poicephalus appears to be its nearest relative and the Cape Parrot the only one which approaches it in size. It would be interesting to pair a Cape Parrot with a Grey. Fertile eggs from such a mating might show that the two genera are more closely related than is apparent at first.