I want a pet humming bird.. is this possible in the UK?

[Abaddon]

Anyone got a clue? I can only find info about America.

 

[aronnax]

Hummingbirds die fast...

Have you tried looking at avairies?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Why would you want a bird you can barely see? Besides, their behavior can be quite vicious.

I suggest a cockatiel. They're quite sociable and you can train them to say simple things. Or they can surprise you, as my mom's bird did one time when she took him to the beach with her: He perched in his cage, looking around at all the people... and I'm sure it's just a complete coincidence that when a pretty girl wandered by, he let out a wolf whistle!

 

[Abaddon]

Where I will live has a huge conservatory, i want to have free flying birds in that.. a "flock" of humming birds seemed nice

I'm more asking about the legality, ability to obtain them etc...

 

[Truronian]

I imagine caging a hummingbird would be dangerous for the bird itself.

 

[Masquerouge]

Get a pony.

 

[Abaddon]

I imagine caging a hummingbird would be dangerous for the bird itself.

wouldnt be caged, would be freelying in the the conservatory

 

[Abaddon]

Get a pony.

meh, i'll leave that to the wife/daughters

 

[Leonel]

Probably not. Heck I'm not sure it would be legal for you to put up a humming bird feeder outside your window least your local council demand you take it down for health and safety concerns.

Unless you aren't under a council rule or you live out of the countryside or in a low populated area, you could get away with it. You just can't tell people about it.

Of course I'm basing this on stuff I've heard and coming up with assumptions and I know the saying about assumptions so take what I said with a trailer of salt.

 

[Abaddon]

Well there is videos on youtube of americans putting out feeders.. but I know actually keeping them is illegal


BUT


They arn't wild in the UK... is it illegal to import them?

 

[bhsup]

Man, I don't know about the UK. Over here all hummingbirds are protected by the migratory bird treaty act (as are my beloved Purple Martins!!) and it's a big no-no to try to capture them, and that would include importing them from America or any other nation that is a signatory of the treaty.

Tell you what, though. You're welcome to all the bloody house sparrows you want.

 

[Leonel]

Hmmm you could look on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website and if worse comes to worse you could probably find an email address to inquire about that.

 

[philippe]

another question: are they yummy?

They sound delicious!

 

[bhsup]

You'd need a gazillion of them to make a meal, Philippe! You heard of popcorn shrimp? Well these are practically popcorn birdies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfRzQgzeQ3E

 

[GinandTonic]

Man, I don't know about the UK. Over here all hummingbirds are protected by the migratory bird treaty act (as are my beloved Purple Martins!!) and it's a big no-no to try to capture them, and that would include importing them from America or any other nation that is a signatory of the treaty.

Tell you what, though. You're welcome to all the bloody house sparrows you want.

Yeah we are signed up to migratory bid protection stuff as we have an awful lot of em.

 

[philippe]

You'd need a gazillion of them to make a meal, Philippe! You heard of popcorn shrimp? Well these are practically popcorn birdies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfRzQgzeQ3E

Oh my, that looks so cute!

But you shouldn't keep that, it's too small for a proper meal.

Keep some bunnies, they are so cute and fluffy and you can make them big and yummy and then prepare and eat them.

 

[Abaddon]

Oh bugger. Is EVERY humming bird protected? I looked at the CITES list.. ans since its many thousand pages long, kinda gave up!

Perhaps i'll email DEFRA.

 

[Catharsis]

Tell you what, though. You're welcome to all the bloody house sparrows you want.

Gladly. They all seem to be disappearing, which is a shame because they're pretty birds.

And Abaddon: no. You'd just get drunk and sit on it. And that would be painful for both you and the hummingbird.

 

[GinandTonic]

Oh bugger. Is EVERY humming bird protected? I looked at the CITES list.. ans since its many thousand pages long, kinda gave up!

Perhaps i'll email DEFRA.

How come the Eden Project get to have them playing with the general public? How much worse an environment could your concervatory be? Hummingbird-wise I mean, since unless your concervatory is next-level you're going to be a poor comparison.

 

[Synobun]

I don't think it's legal to keep humming birds ANYWHERE unless in an official aviary...

I'd settle for something like small parrots and canaries... In open spaces, they tend to be very happy in their environment. Just make sure to provide the right stuff.