Exotic birds in Turkey pet shops enjoy few fringe benefits, such as toys to distract them.

"WHY IS IT GROWLING at me?" the Turkish shopkeeper asked my husband with an embarrassed, inquisitive smile.

My husband, Barr, who grew up in Turkey, told the man that the parrot, an African grey, was "very nervous and scared when you approached his cage, and his only defense to scare you away was to growl at you."

Barr has become somewhat of an expert on parrots after listening, sometimes reluctantly, to my endless stories and conversations about African greys.

"So please back up and give the bird some room because he has been tortured enough by being removed from his natural environment and put into such a small confined space," advised Barr. The man happily obliged.

It was only one of many encounters we had that day in the Istanbul marketplace with various pet store owners and their animals. Almost all the animals we saw lacked basic necessities such as food, water, toys, and appropriate bedding materials.

The African greys we saw lived in small cages that forced them to live in their own filth and were fed only sunflower seeds - hellish conditions compared to the mangrove forests of Africa. When I looked into their eyes I saw broken spirits that looked out of place behind the metal bars of a cage.

In one pet store my husband talked the reluctant owner into letting me take some pictures of the parrots. I had to have pictures to convince myself this experience was real. Also to persuade others that removing African greys from the wild to make a profit is no longer necessary for the pet trade. My heart broke for these parrots because I knew these truly wild creatures do not belong here.

When the pet store owner found out that I was an American he became extremely happy because he knew I had money to buy an animal from him. He told us he could get us a female lion for $2,500 or a chimpanzee for $15,000.

Inside, I was furious at this man for treating living, breathing creatures as things, not animals that deserve to live out their lives naturally. I knew trying to educate him would be pointless because all he cared about was money. Even though I was in one of the largest cities in Turkey, standing among hundreds of people, I never felt so alone.

After that depressing day in the marketplace, something happened that gave me hope. Barr and I stopped at a pay-to-use beach in Urla. Returning after buying us some soda, Barr told me there was an African grey hanging out in the snack bar. I thought he was joking! But standing on a golden cage was this majestic grey that was gorgeous despite having plucked out most of his feathers.

People were going by him, working and carrying on with their business and the grey, named Shawkir, did not mind at all. He was well socialized! However, I wanted to speak to the owner since Shawkir, too, was fed only sunflower seeds and water.

Shawkir's owner, Mustafa, was the chef at the resort we were visiting. He was ecstatic to meet someone who knew about African greys. He was very worried about Shawkir's plucking and asked me, with my husband translating, what to do. I told him the plucking could be due to one or a combination of factors such as stress, disease, and poor nutrition.

Barr translated a list of items Mustafa could try to improve Shawkir's diet, including eggs, fruits, vegetables and cheese. Barr told Mustafa that he had to teach his parrot to enjoy these foods through example. It would be a slow process but if he was patient, Shawkir would eventually try them.

Mustafa asked me about Shawkir's wing trim. There are very few vets in Turkey that know much about parrots. Shawkir's vet had trimmed only one wing. I told Mustafa that the bad clip would throw Shawkir off balance. Mustafa asked me to show him how to trim Shawkir’s wings correctly. I was nervous, but I said I would try if he could restrain him. Shawkir was so good, he let Mustafa drape a towel over his head without picking him up and I clipped his wing easily.

Mustafa was so grateful for our help that he insisted we stay for dinner. I was excited to meet someone who was as enthusiastic about greys as I am, but saddened to see such a lack of information on the species in Turkey. I left my phone number in case Mustafa had any other questions.

So many African greys are removed from the wild each year and shipped to foreign countries for the pet trade. Europe and Asia are exploiting the natural resources of developing countries by importing these wild-caught parrots.

Chistiana Senni with the World Parrot Trust recently told me that the European Union is the largest buyer of wild-caught birds, accounting for 80 percent of the global trade. Turkey is currently negotiating its entry into the European Union and expected to enter soon.

The World Parrot Trust has a petition that we can sign to stop the importation of wild-caught parrots into the European Union. Please visit The World Parrot Trust to sign this petition to help our grey friends.

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