How Do I Get a License to Sell Exotic Birds?

Birds make up the largest group of captive wild animals in the United States, according to Animal Law Source. Birds have fewer protections than other animals, but if you're buying, selling or breeding birds, you still need to follow the law. Whether you import exotic birds from oversees, breed them yourself or you're raising pet birds for profit and selling them, you have to comply with the relevant federal and state bird license and permit requirements.

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You can check the federal Fish and Wildlife Service website to learn what sort of federal bird license you might need for your business. If you have any state bird license requirements, you should be able to find details from your state's department of wildlife or agriculture.

Federal Bird License Rules

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), has regulations applying to interstate commerce and to importing or exporting birds from overseas. USFWS says you can use a simple test on the agency website to find out if the bird you're interested in needs a federal permit. You will need to know the scientific name of the species to use the web page, but that's easy to research.

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Using the scientific name, you can look up your species in various legal categories such as the Endangered Species Act, the Wild Bird Conservation Act and the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). If the species is covered, you can download and fill out the relevant application. USFWS says some species may require licensing under more than one law.

If you're dealing in migratory North American birds, USFWS says, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it a crime to sell, transport, buy or offer to sell any migratory bird or its eggs if you don't have a valid federal bird license. As with the other laws, you can research a given species online and download the permit if you need one to comply with migratory bird regulations.

The State Bird License

Many states have their own licensing requirements. Meeting federal rules doesn't exempt you from taking out a bird license at the state level. Each state sets its own rules, independent of the others.

Florida Fish and Wildlife says, for example, that state law requires permits for exhibiting, possessing or selling any sort of wildlife. Most birds fall into Class III, which consists of species not covered under any other category. A few birds do land in other classes:

• The cassowary, a large flightless bird, is in Class II, for potentially dangerous species
• Raising game birds such as turkey or quail requires a game farm license
• Falconry has a separate permit
• Parrots, finches and mynah birds are specifically listed as species that don't require a state permit. Species covered by other laws, such as endangered species of parrot, would be an exception.

Georgia says the state Bird Dealers Licensing Act requires anyone dealing in birds take out a state license. The annual bird license fee ranges from $50 to $400, depending on the volume of your annual sales. If you receive a shipment of birds across state lines, you need a permit for that too, one for each shipment.

There are some species you won't be allowed to sell, regardless of which bird license you have. These include endangered species and birds considered a potential ecological game-changer. Georgia, for example, doesn't allow anyone to bring Java rice birds or monk parakeets into the state because they're potentially capable of breeding in the wild and feeding on state agriculture.

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