Captive Bird Census

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="096d4c00dduajq.gif"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="95" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 46 WIDTH="91"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="46" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="91" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#003333" FACE="Arial" ><B>The Fauna and Flora of Kerr County, Texas</B></FONT>     |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Fauna and Flora of Kerr County, Texa"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Texas Checklist"><U>Texas Checklist</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lake Livingston Checklist"><U>Lake Livingston Checklist</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="El Cielo Biosphere Preserve"><U>El Cielo Biosphere Preserve</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Catalogue of Bioacoustics"><U>Catalogue of Bioacoustics</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gulf Coast Laboratory"><U>Gulf Coast Laboratory</U></A>   |   <B>Captive Bird Census</B>   |   <A HREF="id88.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="My Aviary"><U>My Aviary</U></A></div> <div> Captive Bird Census</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="0af78320.gif" border=0 width="120" height="50" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>INTRODUCTION</U></B></div> <bR> <div> This page contains my own research materials (since 1970) concerning species of birds kept in captivity and offered in commercial trade in North America. I've had several purposes for compiling this catalogue, but it is posted here as a compendium to be used in determining the possible sources of birds that show up in Texas that have suspicious or questionable origins. The list itself has two basic categories: those birds that are sold in the exotic bird trade (including wild caught, imported and captive-bred species); and those birds that are held in private and public collections (including wild caught, imported and captive bred species). These categories are separated for a couple of reasons. Collections, notably of zoos, wildlife parks and educational and research institutions often have access to species that are not generally available in the trade. Successful breeding programs frequently feed such species into the trade at some future point, but many times not. Commercial propagators are generally not licensed or beholden to inventory and thus it is often difficult to get a feel for how many "pet" and collector's birds are out there. Most public institutions on the other hand, through studbook programs, and ISIS membership, report inventories of wildlife species on a regular basis and these are traceable to specific collections. This is an outstanding tool when tracking down out of range, but native species, and certain exotic species that are not otherwise common in captivity. Division has also allowed me to track pricing and market trends of commercial birds. Because of my own interests i have also further divided both groups into North American and Texas groups. Necessarily all birds that are in the Texas category are also in the NA category, but i wanted to track from outside the state as well, at least in part to make the catalogue more useful. </div> <bR> <div> There are three categories of captive birds that i did not track for the purposes of this catalogue. I admit some bias here, and it skews the totality of this report but does not lessen it's usefulness. It must be noted that failure to be listed in this catalogue does not mean that species are not in captivity in an area that affects the fauna of Texas and North America (i.e. Mexico). The three categories are: 1) captive birds in Mexico; which is worthy of an entire catalogue of its own; i did not include these birds at all, though i have some knowledge of the Mexican bird market, in large part because it is so hard to track to get any kind of fair assessment, and in part because hardly any, perhaps none, of those birds can be found on the internet, which has become my most useful tool, ahead of personally being involved in the bird market; but it is certainly obvious that tracking birds in markets, especially along the border and the frontier is a necessity in being able to judge likelihood of escape; John Arvin in particular, Bob Behrstock, and a number of others have developed an expertise in this area, and i would someday like to see their materials made likewise available, and would provide a forum should they desire one; 2) rehabilitator's collections of birds, for several reasons; these birds don't enter mainstream markets at all; birds in rehab normally are usual area birds; and when rarities turn up in rehabbers hands, they are wonderful about notifying anyone who should know; a complete list of birds seen and cared for by rehabilitators around the nation would encompass almost every native North American species and listing them would diminish the purpose of this list; and 3) black market birds; largely because i have zero knowledge of it and birds that pass through illegal hands; while i have to concede that it goes on, i suspect that most activity in that regard involves the same species normally found in the trade in order to turn money, and rarely involves truly exotic species; ones that are not otherwise held i believe would be patently obvious should they escape -- i.e. extremely rare psittacids, falconry subjects, etc.; at least some of the concern in regards to illegal bird traffic has to do with birds being exported from the U.S.; should i come across specific information on species not otherwise listed i would consider listing here since it would be important to the aims of this paper, but i would probably come up with a separate category, in the knowledge that some will consider it inappropriate, but with my thinking that this is not something that promotes illegal traffic anymore than a government report does. While they are included as species, i must also state that no effort was made to include the hundreds of domestic breeds and varieties of the species that have been domesticated. I do keep a separate database of some of these things, but this forum is not the place for that.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>ACKNOWLEDGMENTS</U></B></div> <bR> <div> I want it clear that the research herein, the compilation of species and market prices, are mine based on 30+ years of involvement and recordkeeping in the bird and exotic animal trade, and extensive research in sales flyers, magazines, and on  the internet. I want to establish a debt to the following sources which are the only similar or related compilations i know of, and from which i obtained a significant amount of numerical information for this catalogue. The numbers that are taken from these sources are directly attributed. They are: the regular compilations of ISIS for the zoological parks of the world and their collections; the Captive Dove and Pigeon census of the American Dove and Pigeon Association; the Survival Trust (Waterfowl) and the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection's Captive Wildlife Database (Texas A&M University).</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>