How Do I Find Parrot Shows?

Subject: I have parrots and would love to go to a bird show,but have no idea when and where they r!! Plz let me know,I live close to ft.wayne,Indiana,thank u " Di" Dear Di: Thank you for your email. The International Parrotlet Society lists bird shows that have Parrot Divisions on our website a www.internationalparrotletsociety.org But you can also go to www.spbe.org and www.northamericanparrotsociety.org These two organizations are the ones that coordinate parrot shows around the country. They list their various shows on their websites with dates and locations. Hope this helps! Sincerely yours, Sandee L. Molenda, C.A.S. Secretary, International Parrotlet Society

Traveling To Scotland With A Conure

Hello,

I have just read your article online, thank you for making it
available; I found it very informative.

I own a seven year old green cheek conure. I am moving from the
United States to Scotland where I am getting married and settling
down. I am not willing to give him up so I will do whatever I can to
keep him with me.

I have found difficulty trying to get definite answers to questions
concerning my travel with my bird; for example, Continental said he
has to travel in cargo for the 8 hour flight. I am concerned about
the conditions in cargo and his survival as he is only 12 grams.
Edinbourgh airport does not grant entry to birds so it seems I have to
go through London, where they will quarantine him for 30 days which I
am afraid he will not survive well.

I am willing to fly to another country and then take the train into
the UK if that would work. I have heard of people doing that with
cats and dogs to avoid quarantine. Do you have any suggestions for
me? I would appreciate any information you can provide.

Thank you so much for your help.
Sincerely,
Taryn

Dear Taryn:

Thank you for your email. What you are reading on that website is about traveling in the United States with birds. Not taking the bird out of the country on international flights. That is because it is extremely difficult, time consuming, expensive and every country has their own rules about importing birds. It is not the airlines polices you have to deal with, it’s Federal, international and European Union, as well as the United Kingdom's (and quite possibly the government of Scotland as well) laws you have to deal with.

Generally speaking, most species of birds (other than budgies and cockatiels) are NOT domesticated animals but are considered wild animals and because many species are rare and endangered, they are not regulated like dogs and cats. The EU, just like the US, has a policy that prohibits the import of wild-caught parrots. You will have to prove to the EU as well as Scotland (and perhaps the UK) that the bird was legally captive-bred in the US. I have no idea what they require for that designation but I do know that the US does NOT recognize a leg band nor a microchip or even a bill of sale as 'proof' a bird was legally bred in the US. You will need to contact the EU and Scotland about that. I will say not having the proper paperwork or attempting to bring the bird in under the radar of the authorities is called 'smuggling'. Smuggling a bird into a country is a very serious and very dangerous international crime and in the US, it is punishable by YEARS in Federal prison.

You will need to go through US Fish and Wildlife. They will give you the application for the export (US) and CITES (international) permits as well as the arrangements for issuance of health certificates and inspections. This costs a lot of money and can take longer than 6 months. You will also need to get import permits from Scotland as well as possibly the UK and the EU. I have no idea what their requirements are but if they require quarantine (and almost all countries do in order to keep out poultry diseases as well as N5N1 bird flu) you will be required to place the bird there and pay for its keep as well as veterinary inspections. Again, trying to get around this requirement may cause you to be arrested and charged with international wildlife smuggling.

As for the airlines, ALL airlines follow the IATA guidelines and ALL birds MUST travel in the cargo hold. This isn't a problem if the bird is in the proper container and has food and a source of water. I ship parrotlets which are one of the world's smallest species of birds at 28 grams (and btw, there is no way ANY conure weighs 12 grams) and is smaller than half of your conure's tail without any ill effects all over the country including Alaska. Besides, back in the day when the US DID import wild caught birds these birds were captured, trekked out of the jungle, placed in holding facilities that were less than ideal and then shipped to the US from South America (in the case of your conures predecessors) and tens of thousands of birds arrived safely in the US. In all likelihood, your bird would simply go to sleep during the flight since most birds are used to small enclosed areas and Mother Nature designed them to be quiet in the dark so they don't get eaten by predators.

Anyway, you have a lot of work to get done so I wish you the best of luck. International law is designed to be difficult when it comes to bringing birds around the world. This is a) to protect them in their countries of origin from extinction and b) to protect the human population as well as the human food supply from diseases. But you need to start with USF&W.

Hope this helps and let me know how it goes.

Sincerely yours,

Sandee L. Molenda, C.A.S.
Secretary, International Parrotlet Society

Crossing State Borders With a Parrot

am driving from Portland Oregon to Davis, California for eye surgery for my red lored Amazon parrot. Am i required to have a health certificate to cross the border into California or back into Oregon ? Thanks, Pam Winge

Dear Pam:

All 50 states require a bird to have a health certificate when crossing the border. However, whether or not it is enforced is another matter. Not sure if Davis will require it, you should check with them. If you are flying with the bird, the airline might require it and you should check with them. I know that most states will allow a health certificate to be valid for 30 days after its issuance so if it is required, you can have one certificate that would cover both states.

Hope this helps,

Sincerely,

Sandee L. Molenda, C.A.S.
Secretary, International Parrotlet Society

Parrots, Selling Sick Birds, PBFD

I was wondering if you could tell me if there is any regulation
concerning selling a contagious parrot to another. I was sold an
ecleptus which I was told had plucked her feathers due to neglect.
After taking the bird, I tooke her to the hospital and a test confirmed
she had beak and feather. Unfortunately she had been kept in my home
until the tests came back and possibly infected my beloved Congo and
conure. Is there any thing i can do about this. I am just sick. I was
trying to rescue the bird.


Dear Dianne:

Thank you for your email. I am sorry to hear about this situation. You need to speak to a lawyer as I cannot give you legal advice. Also, every state is different when it comes to consumer protection laws regarding the sales of animals. I would imagine that the person selling the bird would have had to have known about the bird being sick prior to the sale and that might be difficult to prove as very few people have these kinds of tests run. Even if they do, there may be problems with the test such as receiving a false negative but you should speak to a lawyer in your county.

Also, since birds, as are all animals, considered 'property' you would have to prove that your birds were indeed infected by this bird. Furthermore that they have been harmed and what the damages would be but again you need to speak to an attorney. Fortunately, not all birds that are exposed to PBFD become infected and even those that are, do not succumb to the disease. You should talk with vets who specialize in PBFD and have your other birds tested. I would also immediately put that bird into quarantine and exercise quarantine procedures when it comes to caring for all the birds.

Best of luck to you and your birds and again, I am very sorry to hear about this.

Sincerely yours,

Sandee L. Molenda, C.A.S.

Where Have the Parrotlet Subspecies Gone? Introducing "Generic" Parrotlets.

I always say there are two types of parrotlet keepers – those that had parrotlets before 1992 and those that started keeping them after 1992. Why is 1992 so important? Because that was the year that the U.S. Congress passed the Wild Bird Conservation Act which severely limited the importation of exotic birds into the country and all but put a stop on the importation of all wild-caught birds. While people have many opinions about the WBCA, the fact is that more than 18 years after its passage, a lot of things have changed. Some of these things have been good, Americans are certainly some of the most successful breeders of parrots in the world, other things have not been so good. Many species that were commonly kept, gradually disappeared. The most notable are the Brotogerius species such as Canary-Winged and Grey-Cheeked parakeets. Another thing that has largely disappeared is subspecies of most species of parrot. This also includes almost all the pure forms of the subspecies previously found in parrotlet species.

At the end of 1992, a shipment of Spectacled parrotlets were imported into the U.S. just before the WBCA was passed. The newly-formed International Parrotlet Society realized that the probability of obtaining more Spectacleds was non-existent so a small group of very dedicated breeders formed the first IPS breeding cooperative to ensure the establishment of this species in the United States. The breeders who participated came from different parts of the country. Some were in California, some were in Florida and some were in the Mid-West, mostly in Michigan.

Fortunately, many breeders were successful with the first breeding of these parrotlets, as Spectacleds turned out to be rather prolific breeders. Like most parrotlet species, they had no set breeding season and, under the right conditions, bred year-round. Breeders began working together to exchange chicks so that a viable genetic pool could be established in order to minimize inbreeding as much as possible.

One thing that Spectacled breeders soon discovered is that, unlike Pacifics or Green Rumps, the males’ coloring, especially on the rump and around the eyes, did not develop until the birds went through their first or even second molts. At that time, most of the breeders got together once or twice a year at conventions so they could exchange birds. It was not until time had passed and the parrotlets matured, that breeders realized the birds did not look the same. It was not because the birds were hybridized or were color mutations, it was because they were different subspecies. This was verified by checking the drawings and descriptions as written in the “Bible” of parrot identification, Parrots of the World.

This created a moral and biological dilemma for both Spectacled breeders and the International Parrotlet Society. Should the breeders concentrate on preserving these subspecies in their ‘pure’ forms or should they work to establish the species in American aviculture. There was an extremely limited amount of stock to work with, less than 30 Spectacleds had been imported in total. Also, the Spectacleds that were originally imported were domestic stock that came from Europe, not wild-caught birds. There were no guarantees as to what their pedigrees were and no way of knowing whether or not the subspecies had been crossed before they were ever imported into the US. More importantly, many breeders had already set up their pairs and were not anxious to break them up as they were breeding second and even third generations of Spectacleds. The breeders and IPS agreed that, under these circumstances, it was better to establish the species with the healthiest, unrelated stock as possible and not to try and keep the subspecies pure. Now, 18 years later, we have Spectacleds aplenty in the United States, so much so they are sold into the pet trade, much to the delight of many Spectacled parrotlet owners today.

The same biological changes in subspecies have pretty much happened to all the parrots that have been domestically bred in the United States. Eclectus parrots, Senegals, lories, conures, even long-lived species such as macaws and the large cockatoos have almost no pure subspecies left since the passage of the WBCA.

Many people who had parrotlets in the early 1990’s did not realize there were different species let alone subspecies. IPS spent most of its time trying to educate people on identification of species to avoid hybridization. Identification of subspecies was largely used to help people figure out what species they had so people would not breed Green Rumps with Pacifics or Blues Wings with Mexicans.

Unlike the larger species of parrots, our tiny little parrotlets are birds that most species mature and produce offspring at a year of age. Almost 20 generations of parrotlets have been produced since the WBCA was passed. In birds such as Green Rumps, many of those countries stopped exporting even earlier – the subspecies deliciosus was the first to have importation stopped back in the mid-1980’s. For years, many breeders did not realize there were two different subspecies of Pacifics so those birds were regularly bred together. Blue Wingeds and Mexican parrotlets were so difficult to breed that if you got a male and female to produce, no one cared if they were two different subspecies.

So where does that leave us today? It leaves us with beautiful, healthy species of Spectacleds, Pacifics and Green Rumps that are available to breeders and pet owners at reasonable prices. However, the price of that is the loss of pure subspecies in most if not all parrotlet species. These commingled subspecies have a biological term and are called “generic” subspecies. Unlike a “hybrid”, which is the breeding of two separate species, such as Green Rump and Pacific, “generics” are the same species but are a mix of subspecies. This is why chicks from the same parents look different. Some Green Rumps may be very tiny like the deliciousus and some can be bigger like viridissimus. Why some Pacific hens have blue on their rumps, even in the color mutations, and some do not. Unlike recessive mutations, subspecies’ characteristics will be passed on to the offspring.

It is important to remember that these are not bad things, it is just the way things are. Had breeders not combined these various subspecies, all parrotlet species, except for possibly Pacifics, would no longer exist in American aviaries. The birds would have been inbred and in all likelihood, simply died out as they got progressively genetically weaker. Any species that survived would be in such small numbers they would be prohibitively expensive and certainly there would be few, if any, color mutations available. After all, color mutations were placed on the Captive-Bred List available for importation by the hard work of the members of the International Parrotlet Society. The government was receptive to the listing in large part because of the success of IPS’ breeders in establishing long-term, captive-bred, species of parrotlets in the United States.

So the next time you see deliciosus Green Rumps or lucida Pacifics, realize that the bird is most probably a generic that exhibits the traits of that subspecies but probably is not a pure subspecies. But that is all right – its very existence proves that the right decisions were made and that Americans will be able to have beautiful, healthy species of parrotlets available for generations to come.

Are Parrotlets The Smallest Species of Parrot?

Contrary to popolar belief, parrotlets are not the smallest species of parrots in the world. Parrotlets are certainly one of the smallest but not the smallest. The African Pygmy Parrot is the smallest species of parrot in the world but has not been successfully kept in captivity.