birds

An article in the New York Times this week features a feathery situation in the airport security line.  Joe Sharkey, a Times reporter, was faced with flying his two parrots, Rosie (an African Grey) and Petey (a blue-and-gold Macaw) from Newark to Phoenix.  A difficult task under the best of circumstances, Sharkey found himself receiving a long, hard look from the TSA before boarding with Rosie, who would be flying with him in-cabin.  Then the time came for Rosie to be inspected by the TSA, which required looking under her wings for explosives:

My wife and I had never before flown with our two parrots, but this time they had to come along on our nonstop flight to Phoenix. Rosie could fly in the cabin.  ... We were very anxious at the checkpoint. My wife solved the problem, though. One of Rosie’s tricks is to spread her wings and lower her beak if you ask her to imitate an eagle.

“Rosie, do an eagle,” my wife said. Inside her cage with the screener’s face framed in the open door, the bird promptly spread her wings wide. The screener had his look under the wings and lowered his wand. Merriment ensued all around — but it had to look pretty silly.

Flying with pets has always been somewhat difficult but tighter security restrictions are making pet travel, particularly in-cabin, even more stressful.

Almost a year ago, we reported a confusing pet travel directive issued by the TSA that made it impossible for pets originating from outside the US to be shipped unaccompanied or as manifest cargo without going through a "Regulated Agent" or "IATA-Approved" shipper.  Breeders who were used to sending their pets to Canada and then arranging to ship them back through other breeders suddenly found themselves in a tight spot, with their show dogs and breeding stock stuck across the border.  It also meant that someone living in a more remote city/country where there might not be a freight forwarder or registered agent who is capable and/or willing to book pets as cargo would have to either travel with their pet back to the US or leave the pet behind. 

One Austin, Texas parrot owner learned a valuable lesson about buying and selling parrots over the internet. 

As NBC affiliate KXAN reported:

Q. We are moving to Kauai, HI this December; I understand the State's quarantine restrictions/requirements; however, these are for dogs and cats. I am looking for information about my birds... is there a quarantine for importing birds into the state of Hawaii? -- Jennifer G., Romeo, MI

A. Hello Jennifer,

I came across a great new site today called Animaland, which is run by the ASPCA.  It's designed for kids and young adults, helping them sort through the important issues of pet rescue, pet adoption and caring for animals humanely.

A new species of bird has been found in Laos - the aptly named Bare Faced Bulbul. 

Cute or not cute?  One of my coworkers thinks the bird looks like "skeksis" from the movie the Dark Crystal.

If you're a parrot owner considering a move to a new home, the concern over possibly losing your parrot if he were to escape is always a worry in the back of your mind.  A new website, 911 Parrot Alert, is using the internet to create an international database to help bird owners find their precious "fids," (feathered-kid) if they're lost or stolen.

This question comes from our "Ask the Pet Travel Specialist" partnership with PetTravelCenter.com:

Q. What are the regulations for bringing Myna birds from Iran [Tehran] to the United States? -- Azar M.

A. Hi Azar,

Over the weekend, we got a blog comment from Lisa, who was thinking of moving her African Grey parrot to Vietnam.  She had saw our post about moving parrots to Vietnam, and wanted to know how the move had gone for our other client.

Yesterday, our EU specialist wrote a great blog entry about Moving Birds to the EU.  It was a rather timely post, given the fact that he was in the middle of moving one very white bird, named "Tara," from Los Angeles, California to Geneva, Switzerland.

Moving birds to the EU can be a very lengthy and expensive process, so make sure to plan ahead and do plenty of research.  Below is a brief overview of steps that need to be taken to ensure a successful relocation for your avian friend.