US Edition
These Men Carry Towers of Birds Through Mexico’s Streets. They Say Their Tradition Is Dying Out.
The tradition of pajareros is fading due to legal restrictions, criticism from animal rights groups, and vendors seeking more stable work for their families, officials and sellers said.
- On Sunday, March 29, 2026, hundreds of pajareros marched through Mexico City to the Basilica of Guadalupe carrying 10-foot-tall decorated cages during the annual Palm Sunday pilgrimage.
- For 32 years, Cruz Monroy has upheld this generational tradition, raising songbirds at his home outside Mexico City and explaining, "Hearing their songs, it brings people joy."
- Animal rights groups criticize the practice as abuse and trafficking, while vendors like Monroy argue they raise their own birds rather than capture species authorities classify as "wild birds, not pets."
- Mounting restrictions and harassment by authorities have led many vendors to abandon the trade, with the practice slowly disappearing from city streets as workers face pressure to find alternative employment.
- "Because of the restrictions, harassment by certain authorities, many friends have left selling birds behind," Monroy said, forcing him to seek alternative work to support his children.
23 Articles
23 Articles
These Men Carry Bird Towers Through the Streets of Mexico. They Say Their Tradition Is Disappearing.
SAN BARTOLO MORELOS— For 32 years, Cruz Monroy has traveled the streets of a small town on the outskirts of the capital of Mexico with a tower of small cages full of birds of all colors. The melodies of red cardinals, green and blue parakeets and multicolored finches fill the days of "birds", or street vendors of birds, like him. The practice of selling birds in cage piles — sometimes much higher than the men who transport them — goes back gener…
In Holy Week, men carry towers of birds through Mexico’s streets
SAN BARTOLO MORELOS, Mexico — For 32 years, Cruz Monroy has walked the streets of a small town on the fringes of Mexico’s capital with a tower of small cages filled with a rainbow of birds. The melodies of red cardinals, green and blue parakeets and multicolored finches fill the days of “pajareros,” or street bird vendors, like him. The act of selling birds in stacks of cages — sometimes far taller than the men who carry them — goes back generat…
Daily Journal
Photos of Mexico's bird vendors making their annual pilgrimage to the Basilica of Guadalupe
During the Catholic holiday of Palm Sunday, birds vendors, known as pajareros, from across Mexico flock to the capital and decorate 10-foot-tall stacks of cages, adorning them with flowers, tinsel and images of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico’s patron saint.…
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