Thanks everyone! I really had no particular plan to "join the club" so I'm really amused that my husband went and fell in love with a poicephalus. Bill: "Wow, what's that? He's really cool!", Me, astounded, "THAT is a Cape Parrot!".
We are calling him "Scotty" after "Death Valley Scotty" (Bill just completed the Badwater Ultramarathon Route, so Death Valley themed names were on our mind). His cage is, of course,
"Scotty's Castle" and it is somewhat palatial!
Although we were given much warning that he is headstrong, etc. and his breeder referred to Capes as "expert-class psitticines" he has so far demonstrated exemplary behavior. Fortunately I spent some time talking to the woman who works the store M-W. She and this bird got pretty close while he was at the store, but she was also very honest. I felt a bit bad taking him home, she was crying... but at least we know he was lovingly handled at least some of the time. He is really getting comfortable with Bill and will sit on his arm and preen, and he steps up and comes out of the cage fine for me, too. Maybe he's on his best behavior? He seems like a big marshmellow!
He seems to be settling in well enough. I think he's confused by the quietness of his new environment! No macaws screaming all day long. He has eaten and drunk, but not nearly as well as we'd like to see. He's currently on the same diet they had him on, a "special mix" of pellets with some nuts and dried banana chips and spices (whole star anise, cinnamon), a "salad" in the mornings and sprouts in the evening. I think we'd like to evolve both his diet and Scooter's so that they are more similar, at least in the fresh food area. We left the store with a sprouting kit and two bags of sprouting mix among other things.
I have to say that by the time we were in the car heading to the store to complete the purchase I was ready for it to be the nightmare transaction. We almost bowed out because the owner was out of town and "might" be able to accommodate us by being back on the weekend... the woman we had spoken with actually intervened on our behalf when she realized a good home for the bird was about to walk away... and ultimately she even got to do the sale because the owner was stuck in traffic and couldn't get back! This was apparently fairly novel. As far as I can tell, the story with these folks is that they started as backyard hobbyist breeders, left a medical lab career to become professional breeders and opened the store as an outlet. I'm guessing they invested well at some point, because they are SO worried about selling to GOOD homes that they have trouble selling at all. I think they are well intentioned but trying way to hard to control the outcome of a situation they can't really control. So they wind up not selling birds.
That's the story! The snaps I took of Scotty in his Castle last night are fairly horrendous so you may have to wait for photos. I have some really cute ones of Scooter, though, which I may inflict on you.