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Woman With Thousands Of Backyard Birds Says She'll Keep Them

CASTRO VALLEY (KPIX 5) -- There are hundreds of exotic birds living in one East Bay backyard. Neighbors say they've have enough, but the bird owner is not backing down.

"They can say 2000 birds I [don't] care," says Bianca Pham. "I wish I have a lot more so I can sell and make money."

Pham owns hundreds of birds at her property and says it's all fake news.

"All the information you guys put up is wrong information."

Fish and Wildlife game wardens didn't buy that. Saturday morning, they served a search warrant at Pham's Castro Valley property. They inspected the birds and wrote down a list of violations -- from selling illegal birds to violating state laws.

The rough estimate is 500 parrots, macaws, cockatoos and other exotic birds.

"It's not business, it's my hobby," says Pham. "It's my babies making babies and making babies. So anyways, that's the whole story. They say 500, 600, or 1,000. That's okay. It's not really matter the number."

But her neighbors say it's not okay. They say Pham has turned their quiet street into a tropical forest. The sounds of birds are constant and they're scared to leave their houses because of the smell and flies.

Pham sells her birds on Craigslist for up to $2,000 dollars a pop. She also owns and manages Delta Eye Care in Union City.

KPIX 5 caught up with her at her store.

"No, no, no. We have the right to have birds. It is not illegal… I'll prove to you that after next week, I'll still have birds," she said defiantly.

State and county investigators say it's a tough case because they can't seize the birds. They don't have the facility or the people to take care of 500 birds.

Neighbor Tom Johnson agrees 500 birds is going to take up a lot of room. "There's just no two ways about it."

"I would hate to think the birds would end up being destroyed," adds neighbor Steve Neill.

Investigators plan meet with Pham to go over the violations and try to come up with a solution.

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