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Bringing a bird from the United Kingdom to the United States

Yes — a pet bird can enter the US from the UK, but this is a two-agency, quarantine route, not a fly-with-your-pet trip. USDA APHIS requires an import permit, a UK export health certificate (EHC 4948) countersigned by a government vet, entry only through New York, Miami or Los Angeles, and 30 days of federal quarantine with disease testing for every non-US-origin bird. If your bird is a CITES/WBCA species — most parrots, macaws and cockatoos are — you also need a US Fish & Wildlife Service permit, applied for at least 60 days ahead. Start 2–3 months before you travel.

Bird rules move fast. Avian influenza (HPAI) restriction lists change week to week, and a listing can close a route with little notice. Seven days before you travel, re-check that your origin is still clear — the checklist below includes that step.

30 days

Federal quarantine

Mandatory for non-US-origin birds, at your expense

3 ports only

Entry ports

New York, Miami or Los Angeles

≥60 days

FWS permit lead time

For CITES/WBCA species; no expedite

≤5 birds

Pet-bird limit (APHIS)

6 or more is a commercial shipment; FWS pet cap is 2/year

Sources disagree: APHIS's own pages describe quarantine by origin and zone rather than in one sentence: the rule that every non-US-origin pet bird (except from Canada) completes 30 days in a USDA facility at New York, Miami or Los Angeles is stated in APHA's official guidance notes for certificate 4948, which summarise the USDA requirements for this exact route. This page follows that route-specific statement.

Sources disagree: HPAI status: GOV.UK states the UK 'is no longer free from highly pathogenic avian influenza' (WOAH rules), while APHIS does not list Great Britain as an HPAI-affected country — it regulates Great Britain zone-by-zone inside the European Poultry Trade Region. Both are on this page because both bite: the UK statement drives the 90-day certificate wording, and the APHIS zone approach decides US admissibility.

Until officials align, follow the stricter reading and confirm with the destination authority.

Step-by-step checklist

Requirements — Bird · the United Kingdom → the United States
Step	What to do	When
Check the species first (FWS)	Most exotic pet birds — parrots, parakeets, macaws, lories and cockatoos — are protected under CITES and the Wild Bird Conservation Act (WBCA). Work from your bird's scientific name: if it is CITES-listed, you need FWS authorisation before it can enter (see the FWS step below). A small number of common species are not CITES-listed at all, but never assume — confirm the species before anything else, because the FWS clock is the longest one on this route.	2–3 months before travel
FWS permit — Form 3-200-46 (if CITES/WBCA)	For a one-time import of a CITES-listed pet, apply to the US Fish & Wildlife Service on Form 3-200-46 via ePermits. For an import you must document that you have continually resided outside the United States for at least one year just before applying, with no intention to sell the bird. The WBCA personal-pet rules cap imports at two exotic birds per person per year, and an imported pet bird may not be sold after importation. For a CITES Appendix I bird, an import permit is required in addition to the export permit from the country of origin; Appendix II birds travel on the origin country's CITES export permit plus the FWS authorisation. Allow at least 60 days — FWS processes applications in order and states there is no way to expedite.	≥60 days before travel
APHIS import permit (eFile)	Apply online through APHIS eFile for a Veterinary Services import permit. You must know your route of travel and specify a travel date before applying, and you must apply at least 7 business days before shipping. The permit is valid for 30 days from your specified travel date and the original must accompany the birds. If your arrival slips more than 30 days past that date you need an amended permit (for an additional fee, before it expires) or a new permit.	≥7 business days before shipping
Book the federal quarantine space	All non-US-origin pet birds from the UK must complete 30 days of quarantine in a USDA animal import quarantine facility at your expense. A reservation must be made in advance by contacting the USDA port veterinarian at one of the three special ports of entry — New York, Miami or Los Angeles — and the bird cannot enter the US anywhere else. Do not book a flight to any other US airport.	Before you book flights
UK export health certificate — EHC 4948	Apply online for export health certificate 4948 (fewer than 6 pet birds, excluding poultry; Northern Ireland applies via DAERA). An Official Veterinarian inspects the bird within 30 days of the intended export date and certifies, among other points, 90 days of disease history: no evidence of communicable poultry disease, and the bird has not been kept in — and will not transit — an area under official restrictions for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) or Newcastle disease in the past 90 days. If the bird was vaccinated against Newcastle disease it must have been at least 21 days before export with a vaccine containing no velogenic strains (vaccination is optional, not required). The certificate must then be countersigned by a salaried government veterinarian (Defra/APHA or DAERA) — the request for countersignature (form ET145) goes in at least two working days ahead.	Inspection in final 30 days; countersignature ≥2 working days ahead
Check the HPAI zone position for your address	As checked on 2026-11-12, the UK is no longer free from HPAI: the 2026–27 season had confirmed H5N1 cases in England (most recently near Dersingham, Norfolk on 9 November 2026) and an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone covered England and Scotland from 11 November 2026. APHIS does not ban the whole of Great Britain — it treats Great Britain as part of its European Poultry Trade Region, free of Newcastle disease and unaffected by HPAI except for any restricted zone declared after a detection, and live birds from a restricted zone are restricted. In practice: a bird that has been in a current protection or surveillance zone cannot be certified for this route until it clears the 90-day certificate wording, so check your exact location against the current disease-zone map before you start the paperwork.	Before applying, and again before shipping
Arrival: CBP, FWS and APHIS clearance + quarantine	Declare the bird to US Customs and Border Protection on arrival and notify the Veterinary Services office 72 hours before you arrive — you will be told when and where the inspection happens and what it costs. If the bird is FWS-regulated, it must also be declared on Form 3-177 and inspected by an FWS wildlife inspector at a designated port (by appointment). In federal quarantine the bird is sampled on day 1 and tested for avian influenza and Newcastle disease by virus isolation; it is released only after the 30-day quarantine and testing are complete.	Notify 72 hours before arrival; 30 days on arrival

Your preparation timeline

12–3 months out — Confirm the species' CITES/WBCA status; start the FWS Form 3-200-46 application if it applies (≥60 days processing, no expedite)
2Before booking flights — Reserve the 30-day federal quarantine space with the USDA port vet at New York, Miami or Los Angeles
3≥7 business days out — APHIS import permit via eFile (valid 30 days from your stated travel date)
4Final 30 days — Official Vet inspection and EHC 4948; government-vet countersignature requested ≥2 working days ahead; check your address is outside any HPAI restricted zone
572 hours out — Notify the APHIS Veterinary Services office of arrival; hold CBP and FWS (Form 3-177) paperwork ready
6Arrival + 30 days — Port inspection, then 30 days of federal quarantine with avian influenza and Newcastle disease testing before release

The mistake that causes trouble on this route: Treating this like the dog and cat routes. There is no version of this route without the 30-day federal quarantine for a non-US-origin bird, and no airport choice beyond New York, Miami and Los Angeles — a ticket to any other US city is unusable. The second trap is starting the FWS permit late: for a CITES-listed parrot the 60-day-plus FWS clock, not the APHIS permit, decides your earliest travel date.

Costs you can plan for

APHIS publishes its pet-bird quarantine charges in its official user-fee schedule (9 CFR 130.3(c)): quarantine in an Animal Import Center or other APHIS-owned or supervised facility is charged per day for the whole isolate — US$22 a day for 1 bird, $24 for 2, $26 for 3, $30 for 4 and $32 for 5 or more — including standard care, feed and handling, so 30 days for a single bird is US$660 in daily quarantine fees alone. On top of that come the APHIS permit and port-inspection charges, laboratory testing, any overtime, the UK Official Vet and countersignature costs, the FWS application processing fee (charged per application in ePermits; FWS does not state the amount on its pet-permit pages), and air cargo. Budget from the APHIS fee schedule, not from a forwarder's estimate.

✈️ Government rules are only half the trip. Airlines set their own pet carriage rules (crate size, breed limits, seasonal embargoes). Re-confirm carriage with your airline after you meet the rules above.

Questions people ask about this route

Can my bird avoid quarantine if its paperwork is perfect?

No. For a non-US-origin bird from the UK, the 30-day federal quarantine with testing applies even with a perfect permit and certificate. The home-quarantine alternative is only for returning US-origin birds that meet strict conditions (US export certificate issued before they left, residence only in HPAI-free countries or zones, individual identification, and more than 60 days abroad).

My bird is a budgerigar or cockatiel. Do I still need an FWS permit?

FWS permits attach to listed species, and FWS itself notes that not every species requires a permit. Budgerigars and cockatiels are the standard examples of pet birds that are not CITES-listed — but the APHIS side (import permit, EHC 4948, New York/Miami/Los Angeles entry and 30-day quarantine) still applies in full. Confirm your exact species by scientific name before you rely on this.

Can I bring three or four pet birds on one trip?

APHIS defines a pet-bird shipment as five or fewer birds not intended for resale (six or more is commercial). FWS is stricter for imports: the WBCA personal-pet route allows only two birds per person for import, with at least one year of continuous residence outside the US documented. If you have more than two CITES/WBCA birds, the personal-pet import route does not cover them.

What happens if my bird tests positive in quarantine?

APHA's guidance warns exporters plainly: a bird that fails one of the quarantine tests (avian influenza, Newcastle disease or another disease the US authorities screen for) may have to be destroyed, because its return to the UK may not be possible. APHA advises voluntary pre-export testing for the diseases screened in quarantine, even though the certificate does not require it.

Related guides

✓ Last verified: 2026-11-12

Official sources for this page

We check each rule against the exporting country's official page and the destination country's official page. If the two disagree, we show the disagreement instead of guessing.

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