- What documentation is needed for traveling to/from a foreign country with a live pet exotic bird?
- All parrots and many other pet birds are regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Wildbird Conservation Act.
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- If you intend to leave Alaska and travel to a foreign country (including Canada) with such a pet bird, you must obtain a permit from the Service's Office of Management Authority (OMA). Applications must be received by OMA at least sixty days in advance of your travel. Contact OMA at 1-800-358-2104 (toll free). Additional information can also be obtained from the Service's International Affairs Office.
- If you have lived outside the United States for at least one year, you may import into the United States a maximum of two pet birds per year. Before returning to Alaska or any another area of the United States, you should apply to OMA for a permit to import your bird(s). Again, an application must be received by the (OMA)
- at least sixty days in advance of your travel.
- When you arrive in the United States with the bird(s), you must present documents showing that you have lived outside the United States for at least a year, that each bird was obtained legally, and that the foreign country where you reside or resided authorized the export of the bird(s).
- You must also file a "Declaration for the Import or Export of Wildlife" (USFWS Fm 3-177) at the time of import.
- For information on whether the above restrictions apply to your pet bird(s), please contact OMA at 800-358-2104, or our Import/Export Office in Anchorage at 907-271-6198. Canaries, budgerigars ("budgies") and cockatiels are exempt from the above permit requirements.
- If you plan on flying directly to or from Alaska to or from anywhere in the contiguous United States (domestic travel), the only documentation required for you pet bird(s) is a health certificate from an accredited veterinarian, as required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
