Coveted as exotic pets, wild birds have been poached and trafficked across boarders at unsustainable rates for decades. Parrots especially are vulnerable as they are one of the most endangered groups of birds involved in this trade.
Species such as the yellow-headed Amazon parrot (Amazona oratrix) and the yellow-naped Amazon parrot (Amazona auropalliata), often smuggled to the US from Mexico, are popular in the bird trade because of their ability to mimic human speech. Population numbers for these two species have dramatically declined in the past 30 years and they are both now protected as endangered species under CITES.
The African grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) is another popular species targeted for trade, and is in fact one of the world's most traded wildlife species. Native to rainforests in West and Central Africa, it is also is unlucky enough to prefer the same trees for nesting as are targeted by the timber industry. Where forests are declining, so are the parrots.
The Spix's macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii) epitomizes the dangers of the wild bird trade as poachers, driven by the high prices paid by private collectors (up to US$40,000 per specimen), along with habitat destruction have rendered this species extinct in the wild. Only an estimated 60 Spix's macaw exist in captivity around the world.
