Bye bye birdie

Exotic birds are escaping into the wild in unprecedented numbers. And they're Public Enemy Number One for biologists who fear they threaten native species

Robert Alison
Special to Times Colonist

Saturday, May 20, 2006

pair of Cooper's hawks in Victoria have been feeding their young some unusual meals -- green parrots.

Green parrots are not native to B.C., so the chances are the hawks' prey was once somebody's pet that escaped into the wild. So many pet birds are escaping in North America that the U.S. Congress has passed a law encouraging the destruction of more than 100 exotic species.

Southern Vancouver Island, especially the Greater Victoria area, and parts of the adjacent B.C. mainland, are being scrutinized by wildlife officials because of the risk that escaped exotic birds might become established here. If that happens, serious ecological impacts are likely, biologists warn.

About 10,000 B.C. households have at least one pet exotic bird and there are almost 70,000 exotic avian pets in the province, according to the Pet Ownership Demographic Sourcebooks and Statistics Canada. Escapes of exotic birds are inevitable, and according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, six to eight per cent of the total wild North American birds are escaped exotics and their descendants, millions of birds in all.

Escaped exotics are a major concern to ecologists in North America, Europe and Australia owing to their impact on native birds. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service have warned that invasive non-native birds damage local ecosystems and can reduce biodiversity.

Canada is relatively immune to ecological problems caused by escaped pets, most of which come from tropical areas, because Canada's weather is too cold for them to survive. But southern British Columbia, and especially Vancouver Island, have climates that many non-native birds can tolerate. According to the Canadian Wildlife Service, southern B.C. is the only region in Canada where exotic birds could be a threat to ecosystems.

Global warming could make the area even more suitable for some exotics, especially cold-hardy Australian parrots, which can survive at least temporarily in temperatures that dip below freezing.

Exotic cockatiels, lovebirds, parrots, budgerigars, mandarin ducks and cockatoos are among the birds most often encountered on south Vancouver Island, according to the Victoria Natural History Society.

The Victoria Wild Animal Rehabilitation Centre confirms canaries, muscovy ducks and various non-native hawks used in falconry are also present. Recently, a red-headed barbet was observed.

"Green parrots" were among the food items brought by Cooper's hawk parents to their nestlings at a Victoria site being monitored by a videocamera. None of these birds are common here, but they do occur.

Biologists and naturalists think that many of the exotic birds that escape to the wild on Vancouver Island are taken by predators, especially Cooper's hawks, before they have a chance to breed. But in the United States, so many exotic birds have sprouted breeding populations in the wild that Congress recently passed a law encouraging the destruction of 112 species of exotic birds now established there, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state wildlife management agencies are actively pursuing that goal, said Matt Perry of the wildlife service.

On the U.S. hit-list are: mute swan, spotted dove, zebra dove, ringed turtle-dove, European collared dove, budgerigar, canary-winged parakeet, white-fronted parrot, red-lored parrot, cockatiel and 37 exotic songbirds. Many of these birds are popular pets.

Budgerigars, the most common pet birds in North America, are now established in Florida in the wild because of escapes. Nine exotic parrot species now occur in several states, such as Florida, Texas and California.

Studies show they compete for food, nest sites and roost sites with native birds, often bullying them from optimum habitats. One species of parrot is established as far north as New York City.

The recent establishment of the exotic ring-necked parakeet in London, England, currently one of the 20 most common birds there in the wild, has prompted British officials to push for an end to the international trade in exotic birds.

In 1962, Australia ended all imports of exotic birds to end the risk of escaped exotics there. All Australian pet birds are species naturally found in Australia, reared in captivity under special licences. But in North America and Europe, the opposite is the case. Only non-native birds may be lawfully kept as pets, and that restriction generates the risk of exotics escaping.

Barry Kent McKay of the Animal Protection Institute says it would be foolish to think that some pet birds would not inevitably escape to the wild.