Their bright colors, beautiful songs, and cheerful personalities
have made birds popular pets for hundreds of years. The Humane
Society of the United States urges you to consider the following
information before you bring a pet bird into your life. Hundreds
of thousands of birds of many species are caught in the wild for
the pet trade. Never buy wild-caught birds. Buying such birds
means supporting an industry that causes great suffering and
needless death and threatens the very survival of some bird
species. Up to 80 percent of birds who are caught in the wild
die just in the course of capture and shipment. After purchase
wild-caught birds suffer from stress and the inability to adapt
to life in captivity, making them prone to medical and
behavioral problems. Only birds bred in captivity should be kept
as pets. Parakeets, cockatiels, and canaries are always cage-
bred; finches, parrots, and toucans are often wild-caught. Find
out where the birds you are interested in came from, so you can
be sure that they we