True Age

Question
I wasnt entirely sure who to ask about this, but I bought my African Grey a couple weeks ago, She is rung and has a hatch certificate which states she is about 5months old now. But her eyes are a pale/straw colour, not black, and I was under the impression an African Grey needed to be atleast 18months old for this? She has red feathers under her wing which I assumed would fade away with each moult, since they're still there I thought she hasn't moulted yet and therefore the age I was told she was. I am very confused right now and would appreciate any advice. She has a vets appointment soon, could they tell me her age through tests? I paid a couple hundred more for a younger parrot so though I love her very much I would be annoyed that more money was taken from me for the wrong reasons. Thankyou very much

Answer
Hi Teresa - unfortunately, there are many bad breeders and retailers out there that will give you misinformation just to make an extra buck or 200!  

Young Greys typically have dark GREY iris's with black pupils... however, their eye color can start to change as early as 6 months of age.  They usually will lighten up over time until they are a golden color by age 2.  If your baby's eyes are golden already, I can't honestly say that means she's older than you thought.  I do not believe there is a test that can be done to determine age either... but if you're taking her to a GOOD AVIAN vet (with many years experience with parrots) they may be able to give you a ball park idea of her true age.  

If you got your baby from a retail store and she's got a band on her leg, you can try to trace the band number by researching on the internet.  There is not a lot of info available however as many breeders don't want the world knowing about their birds, where they are located etc.  You could also try asking the seller if she has any documentation from the breeder she got the bird from originally (or if it's the breeder, if she has any documentation on hatch dates of her babies) and if she could kindly show it to you.  If she straight out refuses... then you may have cause for concern.  There should be some way for her to show you the record of hatch (including the birds band/id number and hatchdate) without compromising any other information she may claim she cannot give you.  

If you find out through a third party breeder (who did not sell you the bird but was the "vendor" to the retailer who did sell it to you) that the hatch date was NOT correct (whether by months or weeks) then I would ask her for a copy of that documentation and take it up with the retailer, asking for a refund of the difference between the cost of an older bird and a baby bird.  

Having said all of this... the bottom line here is this; if you found out your baby is older than you were told... would you want to give her back?  Are you having any issues with her as someone would have with an older bird (is she well socialized?)?  Of course, you'd still love her.  

I would probably try asking the avian vet first - discuss your concerns with him/her.  If not satisfied, you should contact the person who sold you the bird.  Remember, anyone selling a bird can make up their own hatch certificates - but there should also be some other form of documentation from the breeder where the bird was hatched.  

I hope this info helps and let me know if you need anything else.