Exotic Birds

The United States legally imports around 250,000 exotic birds every year; many more are bred in captivity, and smugglers play their role in flooding the marketplace with birds. 90% of all wild-caught birds die before they reach a retail pet store, while captive-bred birds have a higher survival rate, at least prior to entering the possession of consumers. While captivity can provide protection from predators and diseases, its benefits are usually heavily outweighed by its denial of such basic behaviors as free flight and socialization. Most birds are highly social in the wild, congregating in flocks and utilizing constant vocalizations to communicate with each other; in captivity, birds are more frequently housed alone, and their calls are considered a nuisance. In the wild, some birds may travel hundreds or even thousands of miles each year, while captive birds are typically confined to wire cages. Even large aviaries are miniscule in comparison to the home ranges occupied by birds in their natural habitats, and the best captive diets lack the diversity of the foods consumed by many birds in the wild, whose feeding habits are only partially known to science. Health problems are rampant among captive birds, and veterinarians can be difficult to locate; while many thousands of captive birds die prematurely each year, thousands more are dumped into bird rescues, where their caretakers do their best to rehabilitate them and place them into new homes. Birds placed into animal shelters that do not specialize in avian husbandry may not receive appropriate care, and likewise, their euthanasia may be conducted improperly.

In comparison to the mortality rate of captive birds, the threats they pose to human beings are quite low, but like so many other wild animals, birds offer up a variety of zoonotic diseases, and some are potentially deadly. Psittacosis, an infection caused by a species of Chlamydia bacteria, is considered fairly rare, but in some cases it has proven to be fatal in humans, as it may result in endocarditis, hepatitis (non-viral), pneumonia, and neurological damage. Despite its reputed rarity, large numbers of infected birds have been documented in pet stores, where perhaps thousands of members of the general public were exposed before any symptoms were detected, and around 30-50 cases of human infection are reported annually in the US. Bacterial infections from E. coli and Salmonella species can result from contact with birds, especially when they are kept in unsanitary conditions and fed poor diets. Avian tuberculosis, similar to human and bovine TB, can cause wound infections and swollen lymph nodes in humans. Eastern equine encephalitis is caused by a virus carried by some birds and transmitted by mosquitoes, and can result in coma if left untreated. Cryptosporidium is a protozoan that causes respiratory distress in birds, and can result in nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea when transmitted to humans. While not zoonotic diseases, some fungi thrive in bird waste, and can be transmitted to humans through inhalation or incidental ingestion; Cryptococcus and Histoplasma sometimes cause severe pulmonary infections, which may be fatal without treatment. Allergic alveolitis is a condition common to bird keepers, and typically results from exposure to fecal dust, dander, and feathers, especially in a confined area. Symptoms can include reduced lung capacity, inflammation of the lungs' gas exchange units (alveoli), and permanent lung lesions. Because most birds eat, and therefore defecate, throughout the day, keeping an enclosure clean and free of droppings at all times is virtually impossible; whereas natural processes break down bird waste rather quickly in the wild, artificial environments and confined spaces are ideal media for the buildup of waste and the proliferation of pathogens.

The parrots are possibly the most popular birds in captivity, with 17,000 imported into the US annually, and perhaps hundreds of thousands more are produced by breeders each year. The broad similarities between parrot species give them similar requirements in captivity, but it is a mistake to think that their care should be identical. Little research has been conducted on the individual nutritional, housing, or socialization requirements of any but the most common species, and such research is usually based on captive birds with little or no comparison made to the same species in its wild state. Most of the Amazons, a group of 27 known species from Central and South America, spend their days in small flocks or even pairs, coming together in slightly larger groups to roost at night. In contrast, some cockatoos in Australia gather in the hundreds or even the thousands. The sulfur-crested cockatoo and a few other species are at home in cool temperatures, and can survive outdoors in many parts of the US, but many tropical species can become fatally ill from exposure to temperatures in the 50s or even the low 60s. There is truly no such thing as 'just a parrot', but most pet dealers would have you believe that a wire cage, a bag of parrot food, a little fresh fruit, and some chew toys are all any parrot needs, regardless of its species. What starts as a novelty, a 'talking' bird, often ends as a tragedy, when poor diet, lack of socialization, and improper housing lead to physical and mental health problems.

Smaller parrots like parakeets,
budgerigars, and lovebirds are no less diverse in their captive requirements, and like the cockatoos and some other parrot species, some of these smaller birds may gather in flocks of thousands in the wild. Budgerigars are known to form 'super flocks' of 20,000 or more birds, a spectacle that could most likely not be replicated in captivity (nor should anyone try). While their beaks are smaller and their bites less severe, a small bird should be considered no more manageable than the larger species in terms of its husbandry; some of these smaller species inhabit bigger home ranges in the wild than the larger birds, and the natural inclination to fly long distances is but one of many needs that are typically overlooked. With the constant availability of food in captivity, birds do not need to travel a thousand miles with the changing seasons, but they do have requirements better met by a large aviary than by a wire cage in someone's living room.

Consumers pay big money for 'hand-raised' birds. Hand-raised is another way of saying that parrot and parakeet chicks were hatched in an incubator or taken away from their parents shortly after hatching. The young birds are fed by hand and all of their early contact is with people, and thus they imprint on human beings instead of on other birds. Birds that imprint on people never truly learn to be birds, and spend their lives in confusion; many never learn to fly, and undergo major psychological trauma when they are weaned too soon and shipped off to pet stores, away from the human 'parents' they rely upon to meet all their needs. These tortured birds often scream in terror whenever they are left alone; some pull out their feathers or even rip at their own skin with their powerful beaks. Considering the fact that some parrot species can survive over 100 years in captivity, the ramifications of hand-raising the birds for the pet trade are significant; however few captive birds attain more than a small fraction of their potential age.

As with so many species of small mammals and reptiles, birds have been selectively bred to such an extent in captivity that there are numerous color morphs commonly seen in several species, but perhaps none are more varied than the canary. Canaries originally came from the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira, but they were made popular as caged birds in Europe as early as the 1600s. Because only the males sing, those who sold canaries in the early years were able to keep the birds in high demand by only selling males, and thus preventing the average person from breeding them. Eventually, canary hens become more readily obtainable, and the market was quickly flooded with birds. Unlike the parrots, canaries are not highly social, and males will fight if housed together. Thanks to centuries of selective breeding, the modern canary is physically distinct from its wild ancestor, and as such would likely have a low survival rate in the wild, however its psychological needs have probably changed very little, and the cruelty of caged life is no less severe.

Other finches, like society finches and zebra finches, are popular alternatives to parrots and parakeets because they tend to be fairly calm and quiet, and their seed-based dietary needs are easier to meet. Most of the more common finches in the pet trade also cost significantly less than most parrots. Like the canaries, selective breeding has given rise to a number of color and pattern morphs, but behaviorally, the birds remain much the same as their wild ancestors.

Less common in captivity than parrots or fiches, the toucans, toucanets, and aracaris are growing in popularity. These inquisitive birds can be difficult to care for, particularly with regard to nutrition, as insects and small vertebrates are often part of the mix in the wild. Some toucan hobbyists believe that the packaged softbill diets commonly available provide enough nutritional diversity that they need only be supplemented with fresh fruit, but as thorough studies of toucan nutrition are lacking, chances are that these diets are missing important components. Toucans and their relatives are distinct from most other birds in the pet trade in that their large bills make flight rather awkward, and toucans do not cover great distances in the wild, preferring to hop from branch to branch in the forest canopy. This might make their proper housing requirements in captivity easier to meet, but their territorial nature, along with their specialized diets, more than make up for that convenience.

Similar in appearance to toucans are the hornbills of Africa and Asia. Like toucans, some hornbills prefer hopping to flying, and one species, the ground hornbill, spends most of its time hunting and scavenging for carrion on foot in the African grasslands. Hornbills from wetter, forested areas tend to have diets more similar to those of toucans, consisting more of fruit than of carrion or small animals. Like toucans, toucanets, and aracaris, hornbills are growing in popularity as pets in the United States, and like toucans, toucanets, and aracaris, they require a degree of care that exceedingly few American households are capable of providing.

---Under construction; more bird info coming soon---