Prices can be high, making Birds International a successful business venture and thus a model for similar enterprises.
[7] It has also been pointed out as a model for aviculture industry in Australia where, as in the Philippines, commercial trade in native exotic birds has existed for decades.
"[8] Indeed, G. R. Wilson mentions "some international competitors such as Birds International" as a source of "considerable competition when they target markets with low animal-health standards" in his entry on trade in native birds in The New Rural Industries handbook of the Australian Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation.
[6] The veterinary clinic received attention in 2002 for carrying out surgery on a 2.5-foot (0.76 m)-tall Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), a rare, almost extinct animal, rescued by the authorities after being wounded by a bullet and named "Amianan".
[13] Even though the company is breeding many endangered species "it has had exceptional success with the production of the Spix's macaw"[14] (Cyanopsitta spixii, also known as the little blue macaw), a species that has become extinct in the wild in 2000 after the last known male disappeared according to Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA, Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources in English).
Birds International became a party to CPRAA only when the government of Fernando Collor de Mello granted an amnesty to all private owners of the Spix's macaw to boost the conservation efforts.
[16] Several exchanges of birds were made between institutions and individuals for increasing the probability of breeding based on DNA analysis as part of the program.
"[20] In 2001 two pairs of Spix's macaws were transferred from Birds International to Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation (AWWP) in Qatar.
[23] According to Roger Bringas and Sheldon Dingle from the American Federation of Aviculture who visited the facility, "some of BII's other notable successes have been breeding and hand rearing the Pesquet's parrot, the black palm cockatoo, the guaiabero parrot and Victoria crowned pigeons to name but a few".
[30] During the Fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties all of its requests for registration were rejected based on the grounds that the birds in question were not native to Philippines and the company could not verify the legality of its acquirement of their breeding stocks.
However the vote was a close one, members of the European Union supporting registration and some countries that are the homelands of birds in question objecting.
[31] The organisation also co-operates with Fundacao Biodiversitas [pt] and Instituto Brasileiro to Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renovaveis from Brazil, International Union for Conservation of Nature (also known as World Conservation Union), its Species Survival Commission and TRAFFIC Sudamerica.