There is a sad video with footage of wild parrots being trapped for the pet trade. It breaks my heart to see these amazing beautiful creatures removed from their homes to be crated, and if they are the lucky ones, survive to be "pets".
The images of Patagonian conures in a crate is particularly difficult for me, as my Rodney is a Patagonian. He is quite possibly wild-caught.
I cannot even imagine the fear, sadness, and powerlessness these birds must feel. Here in the U.S., I think we forget that trapping wild birds still goes on. But it does.
Even in L.A., I remember in the past a coworker bought 2 Amazon parrots from a "breeder". When he showed me pictures of the two birds who were supposedly clutchmates, I could see that they were two different species. I told him something was not right. If the breeder was untruthful about this, what else had he been hiding? I advised him to immediately bring the birds to a vet, get checked for Psittacosis, and look into the activities of this breeder a little more deeply. It is not uncommon for wild-caught birds to be smuggled in through Mexico.
He had never asked to see the breeding facility or parents, and in retrospect, thought the behavior of the breeder was very odd. He had chosen this "breeder" because the cost of the birds was so low. He was afraid to lose his birds, so he never followed up, which is so sad, for all parties involved. How many people bought birds from this person, knowing something wasn't right? How many suspected they were buying wild-caught parrots yet kept their mouths shut because the price was too good to pass up?
We are all in this boat together. Every person who keeps parrots has a responsibility to do what they can. For some, it may be to donate a few dollars to a good cause. For others, it may be to dedicate their lives to improving the lives of parrots everywhere. If we all did just one thing, then I think huge advances could be made.
The point of all this is not to feel guilty about having these beautiful beings in our home, but to take any emotions that rise up, regarding these issues, and direct them towards an area where they can actually do some good.
The parrots deserve it. After all, look at all the gifts they bring to us. We should focus more on giving our gifts back to them, in return.
