Baby Parrot Gave Away Smuggler When It Started Chirping in Carry-on Luggage

Faint chirping from a carry-on bag at Miami International Airport led customs authorities to a newly hatched baby parrot and a clutch of eggs being smuggled through the country.

U.S. Customers and Border Protection officers stopped Szu Ta Wu at a checkpoint after he arrived from Nicaragua on March 23. He was transferring flights to head to Taiwan.

Authorities discovered 28 eggs, plus the new hatchling, in a "sophisticated" temperature-controlled cooler.

Wu said he did not have documentation to transport the rare parrot eggs.

Authorities reached out to Paul Reillo, a Florida International University professor and director of the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation, which is now looking after the birds.

All but three of the eggs hatched, and 24 birds have survived.

Wu was arrested, and on May 5 pleaded guilty to charges of smuggling birds into the United States. He faces up to 20 years in prison when he’s sentenced Aug. 1.

The hope is to now find permanent homes for the parrots, ideally letting them back out into the wild eventually.

—With Associated Press reports