In an update to the situation with these birds.

On Monday Belize Bird Rescue had a visit from an employee of the Forestry department. He had a letter signed by Marcello Windsor the deputy chief of the Forestry Department that instructed us to hand over the birds. There was no prior warning which would have been great, as it would have given us a chance to prepare the birds and calm them down.

After checking the veracity of the letter, and after several false starts, (no travel cages, no personnel experienced in bird handling, Travel cages that were far too small etc.) the birds were removed from our care and handed back to the Halliday family. Their method of removal was videoed and I have to say was a little brutal. We will be taking this up with the Forestry department as it was unnecessary to act in this fashion.

However on an extremely bright note, the Hallidays have taken great strides to improve the caging for the birds, and have welcomed advice on the future care. The birds will be issued retrospective permits,and hopefully the birds will have long and happy lives under their care. Taking care of parrots is not easy, and it is always expensive. The Hallidays are well aware of this and appear very willing to do whatever it takes to make the birds happy.

So all in all I think it is a great result for all concerned.