Parrot of the international market: hundreds of thousands of these were parrots. No national laws protect feral parrot populations in the U.S. Mexico has a licensing system for capturing and selling native birds. Parrots have featured in human writings, story, art, humor, religion, and music for thousands of years. From Aesop's fable "The parrot and the cat" and the Roman poet Ovid's "The Dead Parrot" to Monty Python's "Dead Parrot sketch", parrots have existed in the consciousness of many cultures. Recent books about parrots in human culture include "Parrot Culture". In ancient times and current, parrot feathers have been used in
Cape parrot Cape parrot The Cape parrot ("Poicephalus robustus") or Levaillant's parrot is a large, temperate forest dwelling parrot of the genus "Poicephalus" endemic to South Africa. It was formerly grouped as a subspecies along with the savanna-dwelling brown-necked parrot "(P. fuscicollis fuscicollis)" and grey-headed parrot "(P. f. suahelicus)", but is now considered a distinct species. The Cape parrot is a short-tailed moderately large bird with a very large beak used to crack all sorts of hard nuts and fruit kernels, especially those of African yellowwood trees ("Podocarpus" spp.). This contrasts with the closely related savanna species ("Poicephalus fuscicollis") which feeds on