Different Shades of Grey??

[2Girls]

I have noticed that my 2 CAG girls differ quite a bit in colour. Yesterday afternoon I had both of them on their outdoor perches and once again noticed the vast difference. Josie is a very dark grey and Angie very, very light in colour. Just curious, has anyone else come accross this? Could there be a reason for it?

 

PS. It can be seen from the photo, but is is far more visible in "real life".

[fireball]

I think the colour differents is down to the various regions from where they come from some can vary from light to dark grey.

[fireball]

this link explians the size / colour issues

http://www.geocities.com/gnoeth/africangreys.htm

[2Girls]

Thank you for the info Fireball. I have tried to access the site but unfortunately it is block by our IT department as a Web Hosting site???? Drives me crazy. :angry: Is it possible for you just to give me a short description on what they say???

[kiwibarb12]

I'd go with genetic differences, just like in my family with me with my (once)brunette hair, oldest daughter with lighter brown, and youngest daughter with green hair = well, that was due to manic panic, but you get the idea. There is a regional variation, and that does have a bit to do with it as well. If I remember it correctly, the closer to the equator the lighter the general overall feather colour. Which if you consider the sunlight and heat factor, the lighter colour would reflect more sunlight and keep the bird cooler.

anyway, the greys are different because they are!

[fireball]

I've pasted it tho the map wont paste over but its the text for now

 

SO WHAT DOES CONGO MEAN?

Now where do all these subspecies of “Congo” Greys fit into the scheme of things? Simply put, they don’t! They are simply variations of the same subspecies based on the areas in which they live.

 

If you refer to the regional map, drawn based on an exhibit from Parrots of the World by Joseph Forshaw, the lighter area is the range of the African Grey ((P.e.erithacus). It is one continuous range with no physical breaks or barriers. Further, the expanding circles indicate the following: The smallest darkest African Greys, about 300 grams and almost as dark as the Timneh Grey, can be found in the countries nearest the center. As the circles radiate out through the region of African Greys, the Greys get larger. Greys found in countries on the outer fringes of the circles will have the largest Greys, well over 600 grams. I have spoken with people that live east of lake Victoria who claim Greys from the islands in the Lake are in the 700 gram range.

(To see larger map click here)

As the circle radiates east through the range, the African Greys also get lighter in color, and as the circle radiates south from the center, the color remains the same, a darker gray. Logically, African Greys in the middle circles east of center will be medium in size and color while African Greys on the same circular ring southerly will be the same in size but as dark as the Greys north of them.

 

When people refer to Ghana, Togo, Cameroon, Congo and Angola Greys, they are referring to the region or country from which these parrots originated. These are their “street names” and they refer to “variations,” not subspecies.

[2Girls]

Thank you so much. It is really interesting. I never thought of it like that. Both Angie and Josie eat exactly the same food, same amount of time outside, etc and I was really curious as to find out why the colour difference. It all makes sense now. Besides the colour, they are totally diffent in personalities as well. Truly these birds are unique!!!!