September 27, 2026 · Guides

Is It Legal to Own an African Grey Parrot? US, Canada and UK Rules Explained

The Congo African grey (Psittacus erithacus) has been listed on CITES Appendix I since 2017, and the Timneh grey (Psittacus timneh) is listed as well. That single fact shapes almost everything about how these birds can legally be bought, sold and moved. The rules differ by country, and they trip up more buyers than any other part of parrot ownership.

United States: buying is legal, importing as a pet is not

Under the Wild Bird Conservation Act, importing a CITES-listed exotic bird into the US is prohibited by default, with narrow exceptions for scientific research, cooperative conservation breeding, and a few other specific cases — a personal pet brought in after living abroad is not a general workaround for buying a bird overseas. In practice, this means a US resident cannot lawfully import an African grey as a pet from another country. What is legal, and common, is buying a captive-bred grey from a US breeder and keeping the sale entirely within the US. That is also why a listing offering to ship a grey into the US from overseas deserves real scrutiny.

Canada: domestic sales are fine, cross-border movement needs permits

Canada has no federal law banning pet ownership of African greys, and captive-bred birds are bought and sold within the country routinely, subject to any provincial rules. Moving a bird across the Canada–US border, in either direction, is a different matter: it requires CITES export and import permits and animal health documentation, and approval isn’t guaranteed. Buyers should treat a same-country purchase and a cross-border one as two completely different transactions.

United Kingdom: Article 10 is the paperwork that matters

In Great Britain, Psittacus erithacus sits on Annex A of the wildlife trade regulations, which implement CITES domestically. Selling or advertising an Annex A bird commercially requires an Article 10 certificate issued by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), and adverts for the bird must show that certificate number. A specimen-specific certificate stays with the bird for life; a transaction-specific one covers a single sale only. Buyers should always compare the certificate’s ring number against the bird’s actual leg ring.

The one rule that holds in all three countries

Wherever you are, a captive-bred grey sold and collected within its own country is the straightforward, legal path. Cross-border sales of live CITES Appendix I birds are the exception that requires real government paperwork, not something a private seller can wave away with a promise. If a listing offers to ship a grey across an international border to you as a pet, that alone is worth pausing on.

See our frequently asked questions for more on Article 10 certificates and how reservations work, or browse available birds by country.