Two Unsettled Questions About Taking a Parrot to the US (and How to Get an Answer in Writing)

Two questions about flying a CITES-listed parrot from Canada into the United States are genuinely unresolved on the face of the law itself: whether a Canadian who is emigrating permanently qualifies for a personal-pet import permit, and whether a short trip or bird show is lawful at all. Here is exactly what the regulations say, what they don’t, and how to get your own written answer.

Question one: does a Canadian who is leaving Canada for good qualify?

The regulation that governs personal-pet imports of exotic birds into the United States is 50 CFR 15.25. Read the actual eligibility test, not the assumption people bring to it: the operative criterion, stated twice — once as an application requirement in 15.25(a)(3) and again as an issuance criterion in 15.25(b)(2) — is documented continuous residence outside the United States for at least one year. Nowhere does the text require the applicant to be a US citizen or a returning US resident.

On a plain reading, a Canadian who has lived in Canada for a year or more meets that residence test. But the surrounding structure of subpart C is written around someone re-entering the US after a posting abroad, and USFWS staff who process these applications day to day may be applying that framing rather than the bare text. That gap — between what the words say and how the provision is evidently expected to be used — is exactly why this is unsettled rather than simply “yes” or “no.” Nobody at Bird Sitting Toronto has asked USFWS this question, and this article does not predict how they’d answer it. It only tells you what the text says and how to get your own answer in writing.

Whatever the eligibility answer turns out to be, three other conditions of a 15.25 permit are not in doubt:

• No individual may import more than two exotic birds as personal pets in any year — stated three times in 15.25(a), 15.25(b)(3) and 15.25(c).
• Under 15.25(c), the bird cannot be sold after it’s brought into the United States. That condition attaches to the permit itself, not to how the eligibility question is answered.
• 15.25(a)(5)(ii) sets out exactly what counts as evidence of the bird’s origin: a copy of any CITES export or re-export permit under which it was originally exported, or — where none exists — a sales receipt or signed statement from the seller (name, address, sale date, species, identifying details), or a signed breeder’s certificate.

Question two: is a weekend trip or a bird show lawful for a non-approved-list species at all?

The Wild Bird Conservation Act prohibition sits in 50 CFR 15.11(b): it is unlawful to import an exotic bird species that is CITES-listed and is not on the approved list in subpart D, unless a permit is issued under subpart C. The test is two-part — CITES-listed, and absent from the approved list — and it applies to the act of importing, full stop.

Section 15.11 contains no exemption for a temporary, short, or accompanying-personal-pet import. There is no carve-out for a weekend trip, a bird show, or a season spent south of the border. The only stated escapes are a subpart C permit, or a bird bred at a qualifying foreign breeding facility under subpart E. The regulation also draws no distinction at all between arriving by land and arriving by air — the driving-versus-flying difference that shows up on the USDA APHIS animal-health side of a US entry has no equivalent here. For a non-approved-list bird, the WBCA question is about the species, not the mode or length of the trip.

Put plainly: if your bird’s species is not on the approved list, the text of 15.11 gives no reading under which a brief visit is automatically fine. Whether USFWS would in practice treat a weekend trip differently from a permanent move is, again, not settled by the words on the page — which is exactly why the answer has to come from them, in writing, before you travel.

Which species does this actually touch?

The approved list lives in 50 CFR 15.33(a). If your species is on it, the WBCA prohibition in 15.11 doesn’t apply to it at all, regardless of CITES status. If it isn’t, the prohibition does apply, and a permit route such as 15.25 is needed.

On the approved list (15.33)	Not on the approved list
Budgerigar, cockatiel, Indian ringneck, peach-faced and masked lovebirds, Jendaya conure, lineolated parakeet, Pacific parrotlet, Bourke’s/blue-winged/elegant/turquoise/scarlet-chested parrots, rosellas, princess/regent/superb parrots, red-rumped and mulga parakeets, Alexandrine parakeet (named colour forms), red-capped parrot, scaly-breasted lorikeet	African grey, all macaws, all amazons, all cockatoos, eclectus, caiques, senegals, pionus, and every conure except the Jendaya

Unconfirmed: we could not verify this against an official source — specifically, your exact species and colour form is still on the current 15.33 approved list, and hasn’t been amended since the version quoted here. Please confirm with the US Fish and Wildlife Service at 1-800-344-9453 or fws.gov/permits before you rely on it for your own bird.. If your species is on the right-hand side of that table, you’re the reader question one and two above are written for.

One species-specific point worth flagging alongside this: the African grey was moved from CITES Appendix II to Appendix I at CoP17, effective 2 January 2017, as confirmed by Environment and Climate Change Canada. That changes what’s needed on the Canadian export side too — an African grey leaving Canada now needs an import permit from the destination country in addition to the ECCC export permit, where under the old Appendix II listing only the export permit was required. For the fuller Canadian-side picture, our Canada-US border walkthrough and moving abroad guide cover the export permit and Certificate of Ownership questions this article doesn’t.

Why a phone call isn’t good enough — get it in writing

A border officer’s job is to apply the regulation as written, in the moment, to the bird and paperwork in front of them. A verbal answer from a call centre agent, however confident, isn’t binding on that officer and won’t travel with you. Nobody at Bird Sitting Toronto has contacted USFWS on this question, and this article isn’t reporting an answer from them — it’s telling you how to get your own, and why you should insist on it in writing rather than settling for a phone call.

A written determination does three things a phone call can’t: it names your specific bird and situation, it comes from the agency whose rule you’re relying on, and it’s something you can hand to a CBP officer at the border instead of asking them to take your word for a conversation nobody else heard.

How to request a written determination

Put your request to USFWS in writing (email is fine) and ask for a written reply. Include:

• The bird’s species — common name and scientific name, since agencies work off scientific names
• How many birds you intend to bring (remember the two-bird annual cap under 15.25)
• Whether the move is permanent or temporary, and how long you’ve lived, and intend to keep living, outside the United States
• Documentation you can offer of that residence (lease, employment record, tax residency — whatever you actually have)
• The specific question: does your situation meet the residence test in 15.25(a)(3) and (b)(2) given that you are not a returning US citizen or resident
• If your trip is short rather than permanent: whether 15.11 permits any import of your species without a subpart C permit for a visit of that length

Ask them to confirm their answer in writing, and keep that reply with your travel documents. If the reply is ambiguous or doesn’t actually answer the question you asked, say so and ask again — a vague answer written down is still more useful at a border than no answer at all, but a clear one is much better.

What’s settled and what isn’t

Question	Settled by the regulation’s text?
Two-bird annual cap on personal-pet permits	Yes — 15.25(a), (b)(3), (c)
No resale of the bird after import	Yes — 15.25(c)
Evidence of origin required for the permit	Yes — 15.25(a)(5)(ii)
Whether a permanently-emigrating Canadian meets the residence test	No — text doesn’t require US citizenship or return, but the provision’s framing assumes a returning resident
Whether a short visit is lawful for a non-approved-list species	No — 15.11 has no exemption for temporary imports and no land/air distinction

Frequently asked questions

Does my parrot need a WBCA permit to enter the US?

It depends on whether your species is on the 15.33 approved list. If it is, the WBCA import prohibition in 15.11 doesn’t apply to it. If it isn’t — which covers African greys, macaws, amazons, cockatoos, eclectus, caiques, senegals, pionus and every conure except the Jendaya — a permit route such as 15.25 is needed. Unconfirmed: we could not verify this against an official source — specifically, your species’ current status on the 15.33 list. Please confirm with the US Fish and Wildlife Service at 1-800-344-9453 or fws.gov/permits before you rely on it for your own bird.

I’m Canadian and have never lived in the US. Do I count as a “resident” under 15.25?

The text of 15.25(a)(3) and (b)(2) asks for documented continuous residence outside the United States for at least one year — it doesn’t require US citizenship or a return trip. Whether USFWS applies that literally to a permanent emigrant, though, isn’t settled by the text alone, which is why we recommend getting a written answer from them for your specific situation.

Can I take my parrot to the US just for a weekend or a bird show?

For a species on the 15.33 approved list, yes, the WBCA prohibition doesn’t apply regardless of trip length. For a species that isn’t on that list, 15.11 contains no exemption for short or temporary imports, so a weekend trip isn’t automatically exempt just because it’s brief. Get this in writing from USFWS before you travel.

How many birds can I bring under a personal-pet import permit?

No more than two exotic birds per individual per year, under 15.25(a), (b)(3) and (c).

Can I sell my bird once it’s in the United States?

No. 15.25(c) makes it a standing condition of every personal-pet permit that the bird cannot be sold after importation.

What evidence do I need for where the bird came from?

15.25(a)(5)(ii) accepts a copy of the bird’s original CITES export or re-export permit, or, failing that, a sales receipt or signed statement from the seller, or a signed breeder’s certificate with the relevant details.

Is the WBCA question the same as the CITES export permit question on the Canadian side?

No — they’re separate regimes. The WBCA (15.11 and 15.33) governs whether the species can be imported into the US at all. The Canadian CITES export or re-export permit from ECCC is a different requirement for taking a CITES-listed bird out of Canada. Our Canada-US border walkthrough covers the Canadian export side in detail.

What if USFWS gives me an unclear or unhelpful answer?

Ask a specific follow-up question rather than accepting a general reply, and keep every response in writing. A written answer that’s imprecise is still worth more at a border than a verbal one — but push for precision on the two questions in this article specifically: your residence eligibility, and whether trip length matters for your species.

If you’re in the middle of sorting out permits like these, your bird still needs somewhere stable to live while you wait — that’s boarding, and it’s something we can actually help with. See our booking page for a quote, and our piece on boarding during a relocation if you want the fuller picture of how that works.

Related guides in this series

• Moving Abroad and You Can’t Take Your Bird: Board, Rehome, or Wait
• Importing a Pet Bird to Canada: The Complete CFIA Guide (2026)
• Bringing a Pet Bird to Canada From Outside the US: Why You Need a Permit
• Long-Term Bird Boarding While You Relocate: 30, 60 and 90+ Days
• Taking Your Bird from Canada to the United States: Driving vs Flying
• The CFIA Import Permit for a Pet Bird: How to Apply and What to Expect

Who to call before you travel

Confirm every requirement below with the agency itself. These are the people who
can actually authorise your bird’s movement — we cannot.

Every number below was checked against the agency’s own website on
27 July 2026. Government phone numbers and web pages still change without notice.
If one does not connect, find the agency through its own official site rather than trusting
what is printed here.

• Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) — import and export of live
  birds, health certificates, permits: 1-800-442-2342 from
  Canada and the US, or 1-613-773-2342 local and
  international, 8 am to 7 pm EST Monday to Friday except holidays. CFIA names
  services related to travelling with pets as something its area offices handle —
  for the GTA that is the Mississauga animal health office,
  289-247-4100, 8 am to 4 pm
  · inspection.canada.ca
• Environment and Climate Change Canada — CITES permitting — export and
  import permits for CITES-listed species, and what documents exist for repeat crossings:
  1-855-869-8670
  · cites@ec.gc.ca
• Canada Border Services Agency — what happens at the border itself,
  declarations and inspection fees: 1-800-461-9999, Monday to
  Friday 8 am to 4 pm local time. Press 0 to reach an agent; CBSA’s published
  service standard is to answer within 20 minutes
• USDA APHIS — the US pet-travel hub, with separate paths for import,
  export and interstate movement, and the list of which birds count as pets at all:
  aphis.usda.gov/pet-travel
• US Fish & Wildlife Service — CITES and Wild Bird Conservation Act
  permits, applied for through the ePermits portal at
  fws.gov/permits. The agency
  contact centre is 1-800-344-9453
  · info@fws.gov

What we can and cannot help with

We cannot help with paperwork. Bird Sitting Toronto is a bird
boarding and care business. We are not a customs broker, an immigration consultant, a
veterinary practice or a legal adviser. We do not file permits, complete applications or
deal with any agency on your behalf, and we cannot guarantee any outcome at any border.
Everything on this page is information only.

There are two things we can do. If your bird cannot travel with you
— because the paperwork is still in progress, the airline will not carry it, or the
timing simply does not work — we can board
your bird in the GTA for as long as you need, including by the month. And if it
becomes clear the bird genuinely cannot come with you, we can help you
rehome it to a good home rather
than leaving you to sort that out alone.

We publish this guide because our boarding clients ask us about it constantly, and
because the answer is genuinely hard to assemble from the primary sources.