Abstract
What is a Pet Bird?
A pet bird is defined as any bird - except for poultry - intended for the personal pleasure of its individual owner and not for resale. Poultry, even if kept as pets, are imported under separate rules and quarantined at USDA animal import centers. Birds classified as poultry include chickens, turkeys, pheasants, partridge, ducks, geese, swans, doves, peafowl, and similar avian species.
Importing a Pet Bird
Special Rules for Bringing a Pet Bird into the United States (from all countries but Canada)
• USDA Quarantine
• Quarantine Space Reservation
• Fee in Advance
• Foreign Health Certificate
• Final Shipping Arrangements
• Two-Bird Limit
If you're bringing your pet bird into the country, you must ...
Quarantine your bird (or birds) for at least 30 days in a USDA-operated import facility at one of nine ports of entry. The bird, which must be caged when you bring it in, will be transferred to a special isolation cage at the import facility. Privately owned cages cannot be stored by USDA. Birds will be cared for by veterinarians and other personnel of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
Reserve quarantine space for the bird. A bird without a reservation will be accepted only if space is available. If none exists, this bird either will be refused entry or be transported - at your expense - to another entry port where there is space. In any case, the fee described below must be paid before the bird is placed in quarantine.
Pay USDA an advance fee of $40 to be applied to the cost of quarantine services and necessary tests and examinations. Currently, quarantine costs are expected to average $80 for one bird or $100 per isolation cage if more than one bird is put in a cage. These charges may change without notice. You may also have to pay private companies for brokerage and transportation services to move the bird from the port of entry to the USDA import facility.
Obtain a health certificate in the nation of the bird's origin. This is a certificate signed by a national government veterinarian stating that the bird has been examined, shows no evidence of communicable disease, and is being exported in accordance with the laws of that country. The certificate must be signed within 30 days of the time the birds arrive in the United States. If not in English, it must be translated at your cost. Please note that Form 17-23, referred to later, includes an acceptable health certificate form in English.
Arrange for shipping the bird to itsfinal destination when it is released from quarantine. A list of brokers for each of the nine ports of entry may be requested from USDA port veterinarians at the time quarantine space is reserved. (See addressed to follow.) Most brokers offer transportation services from entry port to final destination.
Bring no more than two psittacine birds (parrots, parakeets and other hookbills) per family into the United States during any one year. Larger groups of these birds are imported under separate rules for commercial shipments of birds.
Rules Effective January 15, 1980