[Pollinator] Fwd: Pollinators & Smuggling: TX man pleads guilty to smuggling dead hummingbirds

[Peter Bernhardt]

Dear Patricia:

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.

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.

Peter


On Thu, Sep 4, 2014 at 10:30 AM, De Angelis, Patricia <
patricia_deangelis at fws.gov> wrote:

> 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: <
> www.fws.gov/endangered/wildlife.html>)
>
>
>
> *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.
>
> Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
> Botanist, Division of Scientific Authority-US Fish & Wildlife
> Service-International Affairs
> Chair, Medicinal Plant Working Group-Plant Conservation Alliance
> 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: IA
> Falls Church, VA 22041-3803
> 703-358-1708 x 1753
> 703-358-2276 (FAX)
>
> ---------------------------
> Tuesday, September 2, 2014 - 2:31pm
>
> TYLER, TEXAS (KETK) — A 53-year-old Dallas man has pleaded guilty to
> smuggling charges in a Tyler courtoom.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> If convicted, Rodriguez faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
>
> Rodriguez pleaded guilty August 27, 2014.
>
> A date for sentencing has not been set.
>
> http://www.ketknbc.com/news/crimewatch/tx-man-pleads-guilty-to-smuggling-dead-hummingbird
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
>
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