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Florida airport officials seize bag filled with smuggled parrot eggs

The 24 bright green baby parrots chirp and bob their heads the second anyone nears the large cages that have been their homes since hatching in March. The Central American natives were seized from a smuggler at Miami International Airport in March.

By Associated Press

May 25, 2023

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VIDEO BY AP
Twenty-four baby parrots seized from a smuggler at Miami International Airport are being raised by the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation in Loxahatchee, Fla.
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FIU TROPICAL CONSERVATION INSTITUTE VIA AP

In this photo released by Florida International University's Tropical Conservation Institute, recently hatched Amazon parrot chicks are cared for at the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation facility in Loxahatchee, Fla., Monday, April 3. Two dozen yellow-naped and red-lored Amazon parrots survived out of a shipment of 29 eggs seized from a smuggler at Miami International Airport after the eggs began hatching in his carry-on bag while in transit.
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FIU TROPICAL CONSERVATION INSTITUTE VIA AP

In this photo released by Florida International University's Tropical Conservation Institute, recently hatched Amazon parrot chicks are cared for at the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation facility in Loxahatchee, Fla., Sunday, March 26. Two dozen yellow-naped and red-lored Amazon parrots survived out of a shipment of 29 eggs seized from a smuggler at Miami International Airport after the eggs began hatching in his carry-on bag while in transit.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Young yellow-naped Amazon parrots sit inside a cage at the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation in Loxahatchee, Fla., Friday, May 19, According to a criminal complaint, a smuggler was caught with 29 parrot eggs at Miami International Airport in March when the eggs began hatching in his carry-on bag while in transit. The RSCF is raising the 24 surviving yellow-naped and red-lored parrots while looking for a long-term home for the birds.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

A young red-lored Amazon parrot practices flaps its wings as a precursor to learning to fly, inside an enclosure at the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation in Loxahatchee, Fla., Friday, May 19. According to a criminal complaint, a smuggler was caught with 29 parrot eggs at Miami International Airport when the eggs began hatching in his carry-on bag while in transit. The RSCF is raising the 24 surviving red-lored and yellow-naped parrots while looking for a long-term home for the birds.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Carolyn Page Smith, an animal care specialist with the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation, tends to young red-lored and yellow-naped Amazon parrots in Loxahatchee, Fla., Friday, May 19. According to a criminal complaint, a smuggler was caught with 29 parrot eggs at Miami International Airport in March when the eggs began hatching in his carry-on bag while in transit. The RSCF is raising the 24 surviving parrots while looking for a long-term home for the birds.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Carolyn Page Smith, an animal care specialist with the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation, holds a young yellow-naped Amazon parrot in Loxahatchee, Fla., Friday, May 19. According to a criminal complaint, a smuggler was caught with 29 parrot eggs at Miami International Airport when the eggs began hatching in his carry-on bag while in transit. The RSCF is raising the 24 surviving parrots while looking for a long-term home for the birds.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Carolyn Page Smith, an animal care specialist with the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation, tends to young yellow-naped and red-lored Amazon parrots in Loxahatchee, Fla., Friday, May 19. According to a criminal complaint, a smuggler was caught with 29 parrot eggs at Miami International Airport in late March when the eggs began hatching in his carry-on bag while in transit. The RSCF is raising the 24 surviving parrots while looking for a long-term home for the birds.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

A pair of young red-lored Amazon parrots investigate their environment at the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation in Loxahatchee, Fla., Friday, May 19. According to a criminal complaint, a smuggler was caught with 29 parrot eggs at Miami International Airport when the eggs began hatching in his carry-on bag while in transit. The RSCF is raising the 24 surviving red-lored and yellow-naped parrots while looking for a long-term home for the birds.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

A young red-lored Amazon parrot practices preening behavior, inside an enclosure at the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation in Loxahatchee, Fla., Friday, May 19. According to a criminal complaint, a smuggler was caught with 29 parrot eggs at Miami International Airport when the eggs began hatching in his carry-on bag while in transit. The RSCF is raising the 24 surviving red-lored and yellow-naped parrots while looking for a long-term home for the birds.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Young yellow-naped Amazon parrots are carried in a plastic tub at the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation in Loxahatchee, Fla., Friday, May 19. According to a criminal complaint, a smuggler was caught with 29 parrot eggs at Miami International Airport in late March when the eggs began hatching in his carry-on bag while in transit. The RSCF is raising the 24 surviving yellow-naped and red-lored parrots while looking for a long-term home for the birds.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Paul Reillo, a Florida International University professor and director of the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation, carries a pair of red-lored Amazon parrots in Loxahatchee, Fla., Friday, May 19. According to a criminal complaint, a smuggler was caught in March with 29 parrot eggs at Miami International Airport when the eggs began hatching in his carry-on bag while in transit. The RSCF is raising the 24 surviving yellow-naped and red-lored parrots while looking for a long-term home for the birds.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

A young yellow-naped Amazon parrot bites a cell phone being used to record video, inside an enclosure at the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation in Loxahatchee, Fla., Friday, May 19. According to a criminal complaint, a smuggler was caught in late March with 29 parrot eggs at Miami International Airport when the eggs began hatching in his carry-on bag while in transit. The RSCF is raising the 24 surviving yellow-naped and red-lored parrots as they look for a long term home for the birds.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Young yellow-naped Amazon parrots trafficked from Central America sit inside their cage at the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation in Loxahatchee, Fla., Friday, May 19. According to a criminal complaint, a smuggler was caught with 29 parrot eggs at Miami International Airport when the eggs began hatching in his carry-on bag while in transit. The RSCF is raising the 24 surviving yellow-naped and red-lored parrots while looking for a long-term home for the birds.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

A pair of young red-lored Amazon parrots investigate their environment at the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation in Loxahatchee, Fla., Friday, May 19, nearly two months after a smuggler was caught, according to a criminal complaint, with 29 parrot eggs at Miami International Airport in late March when the eggs began hatching in his carry-on bag while in transit. The RSCF is raising the 24 surviving red-lored and yellow-naped parrots while looking for a long-term home for the birds.

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