New Cape/UnCape Baby!!!!

[laurel]

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to introduce myself, I'm new to the forum. I have a new 1-year-old female Cape that I got from a great breeder who had originally planned on keeping her to breed, but then, luckily for me, decided to place her in a pet home!

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE her!!!!! She is sweet and mellow and gentle, even with children.

I also have two Great Eclectus. A gorgeous and sweet 6 -year- old female and a handsome and very talkative 11- year- old male.

Anyway, Hope to hear back from some of you Cape owners, since there aren't many of us out there to share info with!

[lzver]

Welcome to the forum.

There are definitely a few cape owners on this forum that you'll hear from.

You'll need to post pictures!

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Hey, glad to hear we've collected another owner! Post pictures soon!

[Janis Bottomley]

Hello. I own a male grey-headed cape who will be three years old early in 2011. I have been searching for a mature female to breed with my male. Is your little girl a grey-headed or brown-necked? They are great. I just bought my male about two months ago and he was not handled for over two years, so he is sort-of cage bound, but the breed is GREAT!

I also have a male bronze-wing pionus, "Chico" and I am crazy about him. His favorite perch is on the top of my head where he preens my "feathers." He is not clipped, so he flies all over the house with me. I love him so much!!!!

Good luck with your little girl.

[Michael]

Truman the Caped Cape Parrot sends his regards!

[zazanomore]

I still don't understand the whole cape/uncape thing

[Michael]

There is no such thing as UnCape. It's just a term made up by my breeder, Jean Pattison, to differentiate the not-South-African Cape Parrots (which are the only ones bred in the US) from the South African Cape Parrots (P. robustus robustus).

Some people wanted to get research grants and conservation grants so they decided to call the Cape Parrots not living in South Africa (P. robustus fuscicollis and P. robustus suahilicus) something different (Brown-Necked Parrot and Grey-Headed Parrot), so that only the South African Cape Parrots would be known as Cape Parrot. Then they could say that the Cape Parrot is an endangered species and relish in the money and attention that endangered species receive.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Some people wanted to get research grants and conservation grants [...] Then they could say that the Cape Parrot is an endangered species and relish in the money and attention that endangered species receive.

I think that's a terrifically cynical view of the whole thing. But, yes, they were all called "Cape" parrots for a while, and now that P.r.r., the "true" Cape Parrot, which IS genuinely endangered, has been classified as a separate species and granted endangered status people are scrambling with the common name. As far as I can tell from my own research, in fact the three subspecies are now taxonomically classified as two species Robustus and Fusicollius, the latter having two subspecies. The proposed common names don't seem to do anything for people -- Cape Parrot sounds a lot neater than Grey-necked Parrot.