Well let's put it this way... There are probably no more than 10-20 breeders in the entire country that breed the kind of parrot I'm looking into. Then there is not a single one in my area (which I would have obviously preferred). The closest one happens to be the
sucky breeder and that is simply not an option. Furthermore I require that the parrot must be flighted and never clipped which probably rules out another half of the breeders on my list. Then add to that the fact that many of the listed breeders for that species don't have them and/or don't expect to have them in the foreseeable future. Out of these 10-20 breeders I've come in contact with 2 that are quite reputable and considered experts in this species and I have read countless mentions of them throughout the internet and heard their names mentioned from other breeders.
While I have no way of being absolutely certain this is the best breeder, I do have a good feeling about them. A lot more than can be said for countless other breeders I've encountered while considering other species (like asking one if they breed poicephalus parrots and they were trying to correct me and tell me that I meant eclectus). I have to say that these two breeders I'm considering are probably more reliable than most stores or local breeders I could otherwise consider. So I understand that the quality of the breeder is a risk I am taking upon myself but that's why I'm looking at some of the best. I'm figuring that if I'm resorting to getting the bird shipped anyway, it may as well be from the best. Since my local search has utterly failed, I've started broadening to a nationwide search instead.
I doubt these remote breeders could be ANY WORSE than the sucky breeders I've been coming across who are closer. So with that said, I'm really much more interested in the shipping process, safety, trauma, etc. Has anyone had their baby shipped to them? How does all that work?