A group of 24 bright green baby parrots, originally from Central America, were rescued from a smuggler at Miami International Airport and have been taken in by the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation. The birds were born in March and have been living in large cages, receiving five hand feedings a day and being transitioned to a diet of food pellets and fruit. Despite their harrowing journey, the birds are thriving and almost fully feathered at just 9 weeks old.
Paul Reillo, the director of the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation and a professor at Florida International University, asked visitors if they were ready to meet the baby parrots he and his team were raising. The building where the parrots were being kept was located in a remote area of Loxahatchee, a rural community near West Palm Beach, and was situated behind a large house.
Reillo explained that the baby parrots were raised by human caretakers since hatching, without any involvement from their biological parents. As a result, they were comfortable around humans and even seemed curious about the visitors as they squawked and looked around their enclosure.
The baby parrots were discovered inside a carry-on bag at Miami airport by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer. The passenger, Szu Ta Wu, had flown into Miami on a TACA Airlines flight from Managua, Nicaragua, on March 23. Wu was in the process of changing flights to return home to Taiwan when the faint chirping sounds caught the attention of the authorities. A criminal complaint has been filed against Wu in the U.S. District Court in Miami.
Following their seizure at Miami International Airport, the baby parrots were taken in by the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation where they are being hand-raised. At just 9 weeks old, the parrots have already lived a harrowing journey after being taken from nests in a forest. The foundation staff is now transitioning the birds from a special formula to a diet of fruit and food pellets, and the birds are thriving in their new surroundings.
The parrots were found by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers after their chirping sounds led to the discovery of a carry-on bag filled with parrot eggs. The passenger, Szu Ta Wu, was arrested and later pleaded guilty to charges of smuggling birds into the United States. He faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced.
Wu, the passenger caught smuggling the parrots, was not represented by a lawyer according to court records. He told investigators through a Mandarin interpreter that a friend had paid him to travel from Taiwan to Nicaragua to pick up the eggs and denied knowledge of the type of birds they were. After the customs officer discovered the eggs in the temperature-controlled cooler, they contacted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. By then, eight of the birds had already hatched. Federal officials soon reached out to Paul Reillo and the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation to provide care for the baby parrots.
After the federal officials contacted the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation, Paul Reillo helped in identifying the baby parrots, which are difficult to identify when they are featherless. He then set up a makeshift incubator at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s aviary within the airport the next day to care for the hatching parrots. Dr. Stacy McFarlane, a USDA veterinarian who monitored the eggs and birds at the airport, and other officials, then delivered the baby parrots and remaining eggs to Reillo’s conservatory.
With all the bird eggs in their care, the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation managed to hatch 26 of the 29 eggs, with 24 of the 26 chicks surviving. However, they were still unsure which of the 360 parrot species they were dealing with. With the USDA regulations requiring the birds to be quarantined for 45 days, the conservatory had to ensure that their caretakers scrubbed down every time they entered or left the room. Forensic experts at Florida International University extracted DNA samples from the eggshells and deceased birds to identify the species. After testing, it was found that the surviving parrots belonged to two species: the yellow-naped Amazon and the red-lored Amazon, which are frequently traded illegally because of their temperament and beauty.
According to Reillo, the yellow-naped and red-lored Amazon species of parrots are frequently traded illegally due to their attractive appearance and amiable temperaments. He added that about 90% of parrot eggs are poached for illicit trade within the caged-bird industry. The trafficking of exotic birds from Central America is a longstanding issue.
The yellow-naped Amazon, one of the rescued parrot species, is listed as “critically endangered” by BirdLife International, with a population of between 1,000 and 2,500 individuals in the wild. Reillo is now focused on finding a permanent home for the birds, which can live for up to 70 years or more.
The director is collaborating with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services to devise a plan to allow the parrots to fly freely while also helping restore their populations in the wild. Reillo emphasized the necessity of providing the parrots with such an opportunity, stating that they are highly intelligent, social, sentient creatures deserving of a chance.