shall i send you the photos of my african greys can you please see those photos and judge their age for me

Not really. A bird that is 7 will the same as a bird 50 if it has good care. As they become seniors, their feet might curl a bit, or some aging around the face patch, with dulling of color. But its impossible to really tell the age. Start with eye color. If the eyes are yellow or straw color they are over 5 and sexually mature.

Surgical sexing can tell to a certain extent the age of the gonads since they do change with age. Even once the bird is mature experienced vets are able to tell how far along the fertile part of lifespan they are. An old bird no longer has overly active gonads. DNA remains the same hatching to old age and will not indicate age ever. Most ring bands give the year of hatch, although keep in mind that a bird hatched in the southern hemisphere may not wear exact age bands since our breeding season has is over 2 different year bands. Spring is one year and a summer hatch is the following year band.

To give an example, I adopted a wild caught BG macaw that sat in a shelter for @ 15 years. The only information I have is that he must be at least 20 years old. The vet said, he's anywhere between 20 and 50 years of age. The very old macaws, the skin on their face patch will thicken, the mascara will change a bit, as Leigh said, the feet may curl and the skin thicken on the claws. But it's very difficult to pinpoint age if there is no record or band. With mammals, we often use the teeth as indicators ('long in the tooth' to indicate an older individual), but birds do not have that equivalent... or at least, we don't know it.

I found out my Gipper was a male, but I never knew his age. I did figure out he must of been in his 30's because of his band, but once their eyes lighten, my vet said there is no way of knowing.

Angie is correct in that old birds no longer have 'working' gonads but I don't know any avian vet that would venture age determination from a gonad examination. And, if there were, it would still be nothing more than a guess because many things affect gonad deterioration, not only age.

And, no, nobody could age birds by looking at a picture.

As to leg bands, I think this is the same individual that posted about wanting to breed wild-caught birds so there would be no leg band.

Well, lets see. Jeet, go ahead and post your pics. We can at least tell you if they are over 5 years old.

I have the answer to the question...do I get a prize?

The answer is: Ask the Grey!

Yes correct but I thought that since these are wild caught it would be possible since very little other things will affect gonad deterioration other than age. I do know a specialist avian vet that can make a very educated and experienced guess about the age. Keep in mind that wild caught greys are still to this day imported into South Africa. It is possible that a vet here has a different type of education / experience because of this. This vet goes to the Congo to sex and select greys prior to being imported. I would have to agree that any captive bred / kept parrot can't be aged in this way since the lifestyle the parrot has lived cause differences. I personally do not agree with the taking of wild parrots, but yes it is something that happens.


Best idea for sure.