Hello from Poland, Europe

[Pati]

Thanks for the info.

In Hungary there is only one rescue that takes in all kinds of pets (birds included), but they don't have adoption program for the parrots only dogs, cats and small mammals.

The birds that have been confiscated by the authorities because of smuggling or abuse go to the Budapest Zoo's exotic animal shelter which is not open to the public.




Yes, Hungary signed the CITES agreement in 1985, and all bans that are in place in the EU are also in effect here since (I think) 2007.
The problem is, breeders have a way of thwarting the rules by buying breeder birds in neighboring non-EU countries, and bringing them in. They can pass the border, as long as the birds have open bands and the proper peperwork. Reselling is illegal, but there is no real control authority on the markets.

If you don't mind, I have some other questions.

In you estimate, how many breeders operate in Poland? Are all popular species available? Is there overbreeding?
Here, there is. There are way more birds available than the actual demand. The reson for this is, I guess, is that there are a lot of hobby breeders, who start out of enthusiasm, but it gets out of hand, and they are looking for ways to solve the resulting financial problem.
Besides them, there are about a dozen professional, popular breeders.

Yes in Poland I guess is the same.
There is a lot of breeders, different sizes, some of them breeds only canaries, finches or budgies( (maybe because of CITES rules I do not know) some has Rozellas, Cockatiels or Lovebirds. I found few who have bigger parrots as macaws, cockatoos, amazons, african greys etc. and these birds are hand fed from the chicks very often. But if you want to buy hand-fed lovebird it may be a problem. I found only one breeder who offers them. All these breeders take apart in some fairs or competitions and win awards. But they are hobyists and professionals. For most of people in Poland parrots are not so popular. For instance from all people I know only I have parrots. Maybe because of such low popularity there is no good staff for parrots in polish pet-shops. If you wish I may take some time and find some web pages of breeders I know, it will be in polish but you will be able to see at pictures how it looks and what they breed.