Meet The Catskill Exotic Bird Club, Where Bird Lovers Flock Together

Richie Chiger is holding one of his parrots, Emma, at his home in Monticello, N.Y. Her feathers are mostly green, but she has a patch of yellow feathers that Chiger said Amazon parrots typically develop as they get older. Chiger’s other bird, Aristophanes, is a bright red scarlet macaw, a neotropical parrot with a yellow band across his wing and royal blue flight feathers.

Chiger is the president of the Catskill Exotic Bird Club, an association for bird lovers in the Catskills. He and his fellow bird lovers started the local group in 1987 after the club’s vice president Matthew Frumess put an ad in the paper that read ‘Bird Lovers of the World Unite.’

“We explained we’re starting a bird club, and we did it,” said Chiger.

But Chiger said his views changed when he learned how the birds are connected to a massive global pet trade industry. Nearly one-third of all parrots are threatened with extinction due to habitat loss and collection, according to the Animal Welfare Institute.

“I feel differently now. I love them. I absolutely love them, but I don’t feel they belong in cages,” said Chiger. He said when he learned how the pet industry diminishes the population of wild parrots, he knew the club’s mission needed to shift.

Soon after, the club became part of a coalition advocating for the passage of the Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992 , a law that prohibits importing exotic birds into the United States when not beneficial to the species. Now, the Catskill Exotic Bird Club focuses on educating others about the pet bird industry. Since its founding in 1978, the club has hosted more than 350 programs across the region’s hospitals, schools, and senior centers.

The Catskill Exotic Bird Club will host an educational bird event on October 12 at Sullivan County Cornell Cooperative Extension. The club meets every second Thursday of the month in Monticello.

Image: Richie Chiger with his bird Aristophanes at his Monticello home (Photo Credit: Kimberly Izar)