Airport security were left stunned after they looked inside a bag they had seized because of the strange “chirping” noise coming from inside.
Staff at Miami International Airport were confused as to why a faint chirping could be heard from inside a carry-on bag owned by passenger Szu Ta Wu, who had just arrived in the American city from Nicaragua.
After officers stopped him, he claimed that the chirping came from a “sophisticated” temperature controlled cooler that sat in the bag.
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Upon further inspection, according to a court document reviewed by theAssociated Press, officers found a tiny, featherless bird had just hatched in the bag as he was walking through the airport.
Wu was carrying 29 eggs in total, and admitted to border force agents that did not have any documentation to allow him to transport the animals.
Wu, who pleaded guilty earlier this month to smuggling the birds, which turned out to be highly sought after parrots, into the US, faces up to 20 years in prison.
He will be sentenced in early August.
While a lawyer who could speak on his behalf was not listed on court records, Wu told investigators through a Mandarin interpreter that a friend had paid him to travel from Taiwan to Nicaragua to pick up the eggs.
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He denied knowing what kind of birds they were.
The officer took the bag and contacted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. By then, eight of the birds had already hatched or were in the process of hatching.
After genetic testing, investigators realised that the parrots were the yellow naped Amazon and the red-lored Amazon, two highly sought after birds among traffickers that can live for up to 70 years.
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The birds are now being looked after by Paul Reillo, a Florida International University professor and director of the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation, who is working to find the 24 surviving birds a more permanent home.
“Parrots live a long time. They are sentient creatures. They’re highly intelligent, very social, and these guys deserve a chance,” he said.
“The question will be where will they wind up? What is their journey going to be? It’s just beginning.”
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