<div dir="ltr">Dear Patricia:<div><br></div><div>Thanks so much for circulating this item. I wish there were more details in this newspaper article. Was the man selling fresh, whole corpses or was he bringing in taxidermic specimens for people with stuffed bird collections? One wonders if the prospective buyers planned to wear them on their hats. It was perfectly legal to do so over a century ago.</div>
<div><br></div><div>The reason I mention this is that I saw a travel documentary on Mexico City on Public Television about a year ago. The woman shopping in the open air markets noted that some stalls sold magical items. This included dead, drying hummingbird corpses on sticks to use as love charms. Have we reached a point in America in which such charms have a big enough customer base to become lucrative but illegal? Either way it's not good for the 200, or so, hummingbird species native to the tropical Americas. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Peter </div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Sep 4, 2014 at 10:30 AM, De Angelis, Patricia <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:patricia_deangelis@fws.gov" target="_blank">patricia_deangelis@fws.gov</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt">
Hummingbirds,
important pollinators for a variety of flowers, shrubs, and trees,* are being
affected by the illegal wildlife trade. The
entire family Trochilidae (=all hummingbirds) has been protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) since 1987. This means that international trade in the species is not allowed without a
permit that signifies that the trade conforms to national laws of the country
of origin and that the trade is not detrimental to the survival of
the species in the wild. The Lacey Act makes it illegal to export, sell,
acquire or purchase fish, wildlife or plants in violation of any laws (domestic
or foreign) pertaining to said taxa. Hummingbirds are also protected under the
Wild Bird Conservation Act to ensure that bird species are not harmed by
international trade. Two foreign species of hummingbird are listed under
the U.S. Endangered Species Act as 'Endangered' and 'Proposed Endangered.'
(Search “hummingbird,” at: <<a href="http://www.fws.gov/endangered/wildlife.html" target="_blank">www.fws.gov/endangered/wildlife.html</a>>) <br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt">*Pollinator
Tidbits: Hummingbirds are native only to the New World and pollinate
plants with red, orange, and yellow tube-like flowers.
"Ornithopily" describes plant-bird pollination syndromes,
including those involving hummingbirds. <font size="3"></font></p>
</div><div><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div>Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.</div><div>Botanist, Division of Scientific Authority-US Fish & Wildlife Service-International Affairs</div><div>Chair, Medicinal Plant Working Group-Plant Conservation Alliance</div>
<div>5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: IA<br></div><div><div><div><div>Falls Church, VA 22041-3803</div></div></div><div><a href="tel:703-358-1708%20x%201753" value="+17033581708" target="_blank">703-358-1708 x 1753</a></div></div>
<div><a href="tel:703-358-2276" value="+17033582276" target="_blank">703-358-2276</a> (FAX)</div><div><br></div><div>---------------------------</div>
<div><div style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:20px;font-family:Georgia,serif;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><font color="#000000">Tuesday, September 2, 2014 - 2:31pm</font></div>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:20px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><font color="#000000"><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:inherit;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;background:transparent">TYLER, TEXAS (KETK) — </span>A 53-year-old Dallas man has pleaded guilty to smuggling charges in a Tyler courtoom.</font></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:20px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><font color="#000000">Carlos Delgado Rodriguez was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 14, 2014, and charged with smuggling dead hummingbirds from Mexico into the United States.</font></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:20px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><font color="#000000">According to the indictment, from February 2013 through January 2014, Rodriguez is alleged to have unlawfully imported approximately 61 dead hummingbirds, of various varieties, into the United States for sale. The five-count indictment specifically alleges that the importation of dead hummingbirds violates the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), the Lacey Act, the federal smuggling law, and Texas State Law.</font></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:20px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><font color="#000000">If convicted, Rodriguez faces up to 20 years in federal prison.</font></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:20px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><font color="#000000">Rodriguez pleaded guilty August 27, 2014.</font></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:20px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><font color="#000000">A date for sentencing has not been set.</font></p>
<div><div dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.ketknbc.com/news/crimewatch/tx-man-pleads-guilty-to-smuggling-dead-hummingbird" target="_blank">http://www.ketknbc.com/news/crimewatch/tx-man-pleads-guilty-to-smuggling-dead-hummingbird</a><br>
</div>
</div></div><div><br></div></div></div>
</div>
</div><br></div>
<br>_______________________________________________<br>
Pollinator mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Pollinator@lists.sonic.net">Pollinator@lists.sonic.net</a><br>
<a href="https://lists.sonic.net/mailman/listinfo/pollinator" target="_blank">https://lists.sonic.net/mailman/listinfo/pollinator</a><br>
<br></blockquote></div><br></div>