The Geoff Capes Approach to Recessive Pieds

Geoff lists among his hobbies fishing and gardening, but his real love is exhibition Budgerigars.

It surprises some people that a man of Geoff Capes' physical stature should be gentle enough to keep and breed birds. However, he is a true son of the Lincolnshire fens and cared for injured birds and animals from when he was a young boy. Hardly a day passed without the Capes' household serving as a refuge for a recovering Pheasant, Owl or Jackdaw.

As a champion Budgerigar exhibitor he has enjoyed many show successes. He is an elected member of the Budgerigar Society's General Council and president in 2009.

Geoff presenting trophy at world championships to the Jone's partnership

WHEN I had the opportunity to acquire a small stud of Recessive Pieds I took it with enthusiasm. They were beautiful Budgerigars which, for too long, had been smaller and slimmer than Normals. I saw the chance of making improvements. My approach was to pair them with Normals of the highest standard in my stud and to acquire top quality Recessive Pied outcrosses that displayed exhibition features approximating to those of Normals.

That has been far easier to plan than to do, though I can claim to have bred Recessive Pieds that had a size and substance that I have seen only in one or two other top Pied studs. One difficulty is that as you increase a Recessive Pied’s size and feather quality, there is a tendency for the dark markings (melanin) to increase – and as the Budgerigar Society’s standard calls for only 10 to 20 per cent dark markings on the wings, such birds are at a disadvantage on the show bench.

Having said that, in my opinion, a Recessive Pied with a full set of mask spots is a far more attractive Budgerigar than one with no spots at all – which is permitted by the BS standard. When the amount of melanin increases there is also a tendency for Recessive Pieds to have 'grizzling' on the fronts of their heads. This is NOT head flecking and used to be permitted by the show standards. However, under the present standards, ANY Budgerigar that shows dark markings on its head frontal must be faulted by judges.

None of these difficulties detracts from the pleasure I get from breeding and exhibiting Recessive Pieds. With Budgerigars – as in my sport – I will always strive for perfection.

Over the past few years, Recessive Pieds have improved immensely and has now taken the best in show awards at championship shows.

Geoff with his partner Kashi

Mick Freakley and David Whittaker hon sec of BS with Geoff on his 60's Birthday