Photo by Karine Aigner kaigner / Miami, Florida: The songbird trade is something Americans may think of as being overseas, but the truth is it exists in the backyards of the U.S. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that 40 protected bird species in Florida are routinely trapped—mostly songbirds but also owls and hawks. According to Rene Taboas—an undercover officer who heads the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s songbird investigations whom we had permission to name—almost all songbird trapping in the state occurs in national parks and on state land and private property around Miami. Law enforcement officials who track the trade say it’s done largely by people either born in Cuba, where keeping songbirds is part of the culture, or of Cuban descent. The birds pictured here are in a holding cage before they are released back into the wild. Caged birds can lose their flight muscle. If long-term caged birds were released directly from captivity into the wild, mos...