Bird hawker Budianto peddles his wares

By Joko Sarwono

BOGOR (JP): Birds are no longer sold exclusively in shops or markets, they are also hawked to passersby in the same way as vegetables, cigarettes and candy.

In Bogor, 39-year-old Budianto, from Ungaran, in Central Java, is one of about 15 bird vendors peddling their wares here.

Every day, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., he walks the streets hauling up to 12 cages, each containing between one and five birds.

"I pass through Ramayana market, Hat Park and Sempur," he said, describing his regular route.

Budianto buys the birds from the Pramuka market in Jakarta. His supplier, Napi, is a wholesale trader in the capital.

"I take some 30 birds every time," Budianto said of his visits to the wholesaler.

He usually sells common mynas, poksai, parrots, turtledoves, parakeets, orioles and bulbuls -- including the yellow-crowned bulbul -- but "all types sell well in Bogor".

The birds retail for between Rp 10,000 and Rp 500,000 -- a price tag to suit all bird lovers -- but the prices are fixed by the supplier, he said.

For some people, birds are an undeniable need.

Waluyo, 45, said the presence of birds in his house influenced his wellbeing.

"When I am tired from a day's work and I hear the birds sing, the fatigue disappears."

Herry Sarwoko, 25, shares his fellow bird lover's sentiment.

"I feel refreshed when I have given my birds a bath.

"When one of my birds is injured, I also feel its pain."

Budianto said becoming a bird vendor was not his choice. He had his heart set on becoming a government official.

"It is a satisfying way of life. When I am old and do not work anymore I would get a pension," he said.

But he no longer dreams of becoming a civil servant as he lacks the necessary educational qualifications.

"I only graduated from elementary school."

Budianto said he dropped out of school not because of a lack of funds but because of his limited capabilities.

"If I had wanted to continue my studies, my parents would have been able to pay," he said. "I stopped studying because I was not able to understand the lessons any more."

Budianto turned his attention to helping his parents plant rice, maize, cassava and chilies.

In 1987, a friend, Dedi, invited him to come to Jakarta and sell birds.

"In the beginning I only helped him. Then I started liking the work and I have been selling birds ever since," he said.

There is no need for a big capital outlay either. Having a friend trusted by a bird supplier and the will to work, was all it took to get started.

"My initial outlay was only the cost of my trip from Ungaran to Jakarta.

"The birds are taken without payment. They are paid for when they have all been sold."

In Jakarta, Budianto sold birds for four years. He then moved to Cimahi, in West Java, for three years doing the same kind of work before finally settling in Bogor.

He now lives with other bird vendors in a house on Jl. Paledang in Central Bogor.

"We each pay Rp 700 a night to the landlord," he said.

Although Bogor is known as the "city of rain", trade in Bogor is more profitable than in Jakarta or Bandung, Budianto said.

"Bogor has more rainy days but, when it doesn't rain, I sell lots of birds," he said, adding that he can sell 30 birds over a three- to seven-day period.

Budianto's net profit per month is between Rp 400,000 and Rp 1 million.

"I send the money home after covering my expenses here," he said.

With the income, Budianto is able to send his three children to school and he has built a house in his village. Recently he was able to pay cash for a new Yamaha RX-King motorcycle for Rp 4.6 million.

"My eldest son, who is now in senior high school, uses the motorcycle to go to school."

Lugging the cages around is a physically exhausting task and Budianto makes sure he balances hard work with plenty of days off.

"I work for one month and take a rest for 15 to 20 days in my home village with my wife and children," he said.

He has considered changing his line of work due to the physical demands of the bird trade but decided against it.

"I have not found any jobs that I could do that would yield a bigger profit than selling birds," he said, adding that he was saving up enough money to retire.