Chirping Sounds Lead Airport Officials to Bag Filled With Smuggled Parrot Eggs

A pair of young red-lored Amazon parrots investigate their environment at the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation in Loxahatchee, Fla., on May 19, 2023, nearly two months after a smuggler was caught, according to a criminal complaint, with 29 parrot eggs at Miami International Airport in late March when the eggs began hatching in his carry-on bag while in transit. Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo

LOXAHATCHEE, Fla.—The 24 bright green baby parrots began chirping and bobbing their heads the second anyone neared the large cages that have been their homes since hatching in March.

The Central American natives, seized from a smuggler at Miami International Airport, are being raised by the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation—a round-the-clock effort that includes five hand feedings a day in a room filled with large cages.