Think Outside the Cage

01/04/2010

Wednesday, January 5th is National Bird Day, so it seemed a good choice for my first weekly blog post about animals in the new year. The Animal Protection Institute (Now Born Free USA) and the Avian Welfare Coalition started National Bird day in 2002 to bring awareness to a group of animals that have inspired people for recorded history through their melodious songs and inspiring flights of fancy. This year, National Bird Day is focusing attention on the exploitation of birds by the international pet trade and the importance of caring well for pet birds, many of which end up neglected in homes ill-prepared to care for them.

"The irony is that we do not allow our own native birds to be used in the pet trade, whether endangered or not, and we do not allow the captive propagation and sale of our own native birds, yet we do allow the pet trade to do so with the birds that are native to other countries (i.e. parrots)," explains Monica Engretson of Born Free USA. So while captive parrots can legally be bred and sold, we cannot import wild-caught birds. But that becomes part of the problem. "Captive bred birds look physically identical to their wild counterparts, so once illegally imported wild-caught birds come into the country, it is impossible to tell them apart and proof of origin is not required in most states. So in many ways captive breeding for the pet trade creates a cover for the wild bird trade."

National Bird Day initiated the “Think Outside the Cage” campaign, encouraging people to think twice before acquiring a pet bird because of these issues. On top of possibly contributing to the illegal pet trade, many problems arise for inidvidual birds when they end up mishandled, malnourished or neglected during transport overseas, and in the pet stores themselves. Many bird owners tire of their birds, and leave them in their cages with little to do. To help bring some light to the subject, they offer some tips for bird owners to make their bird happy: provide seeds, grains and a variety of fresh vegetables, allow birds out-of-cage time, give them as large a cage as possible and plenty of toys to entertain themselves, and allow them access to sunlight and companionship.

Why did the groups pick January 5th? Some older calendars had a National Bird Day on that date, most likely because it’s the final day in the Christmas Bird Count, a nationwide bird census led by the National Audubon Society and driven by volunteer birdwatchers. So they ran with it.

Schools around the nation have various bird-related activities for students and they’re promoting a new children’s book just released, Lucky the Lorikeet. The book tells the true story of a captured rainbow lorikeet who a young boy helped regain its freedom, and brings attention to the plight of caged birds. Rainbow lorikeets (the bird in the image above) are truly one of the world’s most beautiful birds! They’re native to Australia an Indonesia, and live in large flocks which can be very noisy at dusk but listening to them chatting away is a true pleasure. I vividly remember hearing their raucous calls in the tropical rainforests in north Queensland, and also flocking in trees around Australian coastal cities such as Port Douglas and Airlie Beach; wild, and living at peace with humanity, as they should be.