African grey parrots are among the most cognitively complex birds known — their capture from the wild for the pet trade causes significant welfare harms and has driven population declines across Central Africa.
Wild-caught grey parrots experience extreme capture stress, confinement in inadequate conditions, and high mortality from stress, trauma, and disease. Survivors enter the trade psychologically damaged, showing feather-destructive behaviour, screaming, and stereotypies. Even captive-bred grey parrots in inadequate environments develop severe welfare problems — feather plucking affects up to 40% of captive birds. Their high intelligence means impoverished captive environments cause significant psychological suffering that may be comparable in severity to similar deprivation in primates.