USDA Inspection reports: birds

SwampDonkey

SwampDonkey

In the Swamp
Premium Member
5+ year member
Can anyone help explain why some of the USDA inspection reports show birds, while sometimes they don't? I know some facilities have emu or ostrich, but the reports don't list them, but then for other places they do list some birds like cockatiel or parrots?
 
TinoPup said:
They all should have birds now, started at the beginning of August.
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SwampDonkey said:
Can anyone help explain why some of the USDA inspection reports show birds, while sometimes they don't? I know some facilities have emu or ostrich, but the reports don't list them, but then for other places they do list some birds like cockatiel or parrots?
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As @TinoPup said, the key is to look at the date. If the report you are looking at is from July or earlier, it won't have birds. From August forward, birds are included. It took long enough, but I for one am glad the US is finally recognizing that (most) birds are in fact animals!
 
birdsandbats said:
What birds are excluded from USDA reports? And how accurate are their IDs?
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Birds used in agriculture are excluded, and some birds in research, but all zoo species should be include.

Their IDs are something we will have to wait and see. Looking at Buffalo Zoo's most recent USDA report, the big things I notice are that chickens are listed as red junglefowl and a domestic turkey is listed as a wild turkey, so the domestic/wild split isn't clear on USDA. There are some species on there I wasn't aware the zoo held at all, but they could just be ones housed behind-the-scenes or as ambassador animals. Nothing seems glaringly wrong though other than the chickens and turkey.
 
Neil chace said:
Birds used in agriculture are excluded, and some birds in research, but all zoo species should be include.

Their IDs are something we will have to wait and see. Looking at Buffalo Zoo's most recent USDA report, the big things I notice are that chickens are listed as red junglefowl and a domestic turkey is listed as a wild turkey, so the domestic/wild split isn't clear on USDA. There are some species on there I wasn't aware the zoo held at all, but they could just be ones housed behind-the-scenes or as ambassador animals. Nothing seems glaringly wrong though other than the chickens and turkey.
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The chickens and turkeys aren't technically wrong either, as both are only classified as subspecies of their wild counterparts.
 
birdsandbats said:
The chickens and turkeys aren't technically wrong either, as both are only classified as subspecies of their wild counterparts.
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I thought the chickens at least were considered Gallus domesticus? Either way, even if not technically wrong, it can be slightly confusing or misleading to list them as red junglefowl.
 
Neil chace said:
I thought the chickens at least were considered Gallus domesticus? Either way, even if not technically wrong, it can be slightly confusing or misleading to list them as red junglefowl.
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Wikipedia seems to list as such for some reason, but none of the major bird taxonomies currently recognize it as anything other than a Red Junglefowl subspecies.
 
birdsandbats said:
What birds are excluded from USDA reports? And how accurate are their IDs?
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None, if they have an exhibitor license. It remains to be seen on the IDs. Because it's a very new program, and there are a lot of bird species to learn, I would expect some inaccuracies of course, especially if the facility has them IDed incorrectly as well. Those should improve with time and as the inspectors learn species. For now I would definitely confirm anything before reporting, though (as people should be doing with mammals, too).
 
A somewhat related USDA question. I've come across some reports where the report lists a species with a count of zero individuals, rather than having the species simply not appear on the list.

Does a count of zero mean something in particular? (animals housed offsite for cold weather, for example, or at a vet appointment when the inspection happens?) Or is it more of an unexplained phenomenon (or human error) that I shouldn't read into?
 
I am not sure if this thread is the best place for my question or not, but I don't know where would be better.

I was recently searching in the USDA database for a certain bird species (emerald-spotted wood-dove), and came across two facilities, DG Avian Exotics LLC in Hialeah, Florida and Safari Wild LLC in Dade City, Florida, that seem to have quite a few rare and exotic birds, and in fairly large numbers. Is anyone aware of these collections, and if they are at all affiliated with any AZA zoos?
 
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