The African Grey is the most famous talking parrot in the world, and the one most often given up. Both facts have the same cause. This is an animal with the problem-solving ability of a small child and the emotional needs to match, and the speech that makes it famous is a symptom of that intelligence rather than a party trick you can buy separately.
What they are like
Greys are watchful, cautious, and far more reserved than the conures and cockatoos people often compare them to. They are not generally cuddly birds. A well-raised Grey will step up, sit with you, and want to be in the room, but many dislike heavy handling and will tell you so. They bond closely, often to one person, and they notice everything - a new picture on the wall or a rearranged room can unsettle one for days.
Talking
They are extraordinary at it. A Grey can hold a vocabulary of hundreds of words, reproduce voices well enough to fool the family, and - this is the part that surprises people - use words in context rather than at random. They also copy the microwave, the smoke alarm, and the dog.
What nobody can promise you is that yours will talk. Some never do. Buying a Grey specifically because you want a bird that speaks is the single most common route to being disappointed with a healthy, perfectly good parrot.
Boredom, and the feather plucking
This is the part worth being blunt about. Keepers and avian vets commonly describe feather plucking as the most frequent serious problem in the species: a bored Grey starts pulling out its own feathers, and the habit is said to be extremely difficult to stop once established. Most people who work with them put it down to how the bird is kept rather than to bad luck, though there are medical causes too and a vet is the right first call.
An adequately kept Grey needs several hours a day out of the cage, foraging rather than being handed food, a constant rotation of things to destroy and puzzle over, and a household that is actually present. A Grey in an empty house from eight until six is not a bird that will quietly put up with it.
Forty years, and what happens after
A Congo African Grey can live forty to sixty years in good conditions. That is not a long pet, it is a dependant. Anyone buying one in middle age should think seriously about who takes the bird afterwards, and say so to whoever that is. Rescues are full of Greys that outlived an owner who had made no arrangement.
Diet
Greys are recognised as more prone to calcium deficiency than most parrots, and a seed-only diet is widely held to make it likely. They need a pelleted base with fresh vegetables, and exposure to natural light or a suitable lamp so they can use the calcium they eat. Ask any breeder what their birds are eating and keep it the same at first - a Grey that stops eating after a move is a serious problem, not a sulk.
Congo or Timneh
The Congo is the larger bird with the bright red tail. The Timneh is smaller, darker, with a maroon tail and a horn-coloured upper beak, and is listed separately on this site. Timnehs have a reputation for being slightly steadier and starting to talk earlier, though individuals vary more than the species do. Neither is a lesser bird.
Why people keep them anyway
None of the above is an argument against the species. It is an argument against buying one lightly. A Grey that is kept properly is an extraordinary animal to live with - funny on purpose rather than by accident, attentive to what kind of day you are having, and still surprising its owner twenty years in. People who get it right very rarely go on to keep anything else.
Buying one
Buy from somebody who will talk to you about the difficulties. A breeder who raises Greys properly will want to know about your household before they discuss price, and will tell you about plucking, noise and lifespan without being asked. Ask at what age the bird was weaned and insist it is fully weaned before it leaves - hand-feeding a baby Grey is not a job for a new owner, and any offer to sell you an unweaned one should end the conversation.
The breeders listed on this page raise African Grey Congos and can be contacted directly through the site. Their prices, and what the species has sold for over the years, are shown above.