Border crossing with GCC

[rosembers]

Hi everyone! I wanted to see if anyone has experience crossing the USA/Canada border with a Green Cheek Conure? We live in the US and travel to Canada (Whistler) for downhill mountain biking several times during the spring/summer/fall. We've tried researching and also calling border folks and basically didn't get anywhere. We ended up getting referred to Fish and Wildlife, USDA, etc. And nobody was really able to say what we needed to do. I hate leaving our GCC home. Our other birds are fine with the bird sitter, and she is too, but I am very attached to our GCC and hate leaving her home...

Does anyone have experience with this? And what exactly do you do when you cross with yours? From the research I've done, it doesn't seem that the issue is going to Canada, but the issue is returning back to the US with our bird. Seems to mostly be because she is a species that is in the CITES endangered species list...this is so confusing!! When we first started going to Canada, we heard a lot of "Do this" and "Do that" for our dogs, so we did EVERYTHING only to find out that we only needed to have their rabies vaccination paperwork and their dog food in original packaging. That's it.

Some info: she is US hatched and raised but no paperwork, not been exposed to other new birds or poultry within the 90 day window, doesn't have a leg band, and is completely healthy & vet checked.

Thanks for any help!

 

[mh434]

Just as a suggestion, I suspect that if you have paperwork showing her veterinary visits in the US, that pretty much proves she's a US resident bird, as opposed to being "imported" from Canada when you cross back into the US. If there was a question about it, advise the border crossing staff of what you did to get answers, and show them the vet visit paperwork. Common sense then says that you've had her for years in the US, and she's merely traveling with you, not being imported.

 

[rosembers]

From all the border people we've spoken to, they don't question her being imported (a signed letter from the breeder is sufficient for them on that). The issue is having to get multiple permits since Green Cheeks are in the CITES class. The US Fish and Wildlife have requirements and also the USDA has requirements, plus we'd have to go through a border with an avian vet to do an examination. I'm hoping someone has experienced this and can pass along some insight, because I've been getting the "run around" with all the different people and agencies I've been referred to...