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 multicoloured finches fill the days of pajareros, or street bird vendors, like him.
The act of selling birds in stacks of cages goes back generations.
But pajareros have slowly disappeared from the streets in recent years in the face of increasing restrictions by authorities and sharp criticism from animal rights groups.
Monroy said they don’t capture birds prohibited by Mexican authorities, often breed the birds they own themselves and take good care of their animals. Despite that, Monroy said the tradition is dying out.
In the face of harassment by authorities and mounting backlash, he said he wants his own sons to find more stable work.
