African Grey Parrot

 The African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus) been donned with two nicknames. The first is "The perfect mix of brains and beauty," and the second one is "The Cadillac of Parrots." One reason African Grey Parrots have these nicknames is because of their ability to talk. They far exceed the talking capabilities of other parrots.
African greys are some of the smartest animals on the planet, and certainly the smartest species of bird. While of course its difficult to be a good judge of "animal intelligence" (and I might be a bit biased), the scientific community has little protests against these claims.
Speaking words is not the only talent of the this amazing parrot. They are also known for being able to imitate things like phones, microwave ovens, answering machines, other birds, and chain saws.
African Grey, as their name suggests, originate from Africa. This is unusual, as Africa does not have many species of parrots. Two subspecies exist: The Congo African Grey and the Timneh African Grey. The Congo population is larger, has a black beak, and bright red tail; the Timneh population is smaller, has a brown beak, and a lighter maroon tail. They are essentially the same in any other way, and are merely separated by location. Pepper is a Congo African Grey, and a large one at that.
 Their high intelligence is believed to have evolved as a result of cooperative feeding on the ground in Africa, as well as using problem solving skills and tools to survive when food sources ran low.