Even red list species are being exported under the claim that they are captive bred despite the lack of breeding facilities in the archipelago. Amazingly, CITES is actually getting on the case after the practice has been going on for only ten years…
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy, their son, Desmond Shearwater, and their indoor cat, B.B. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.
That is sad. We lived in Solomon Islands several years ago and I often saw pet birds being sold in the market, but that was just one or two at a time. Villagers sometimes would have a lorikeet attached by one leg to a strung wire. I also have an “accidental” photo of an escaped pet cockatoo attacking my toddler–what started as a friendly encounter on the veranda got a bit nasty and I had to push the bird off my baby’s head! Those were my pre-birding days, but think how big my life list would be if I had paid attention back then!