Bird hobby impacts on birds in the wild

Bird hobby impacts on birds in the wild

By Paul Jepson and Farquhar Stirling

JAKARTA (JP): The popular Indonesian pastime of bird-keeping
may be having serious impacts on wild populations of native
songbirds. Hundreds of thousand of these birds are traded in
Indonesia's five major cities according to a recent survey.

As part of a wider household survey conducted by ACNielsen in
August this year, people were asked if they kept a pet and, if a
bird, how many of what species they kept, and from where their
birds were acquired.

Our survey, which interviewed a random sample of 1,740 adults
in the major cities, confirms that bird-keeping is a central part
of Indonesian life. Birds are the most popular pet and kept by
nearly one in five homes.

In the Javanese heartland city of Semarang almost every third
family keeps a bird. These figures equate to about 785,000 homes.
If we consider that the five cities -- Jakarta, Medan, Bandung,
Semarang and Surabaya -- account for only a quarter of
Indonesia's 80 million urban population then several million
people keep birds. The average number of birds kept per household
is three and the average time a bird is kept is two years three
months. No need to reach for a calculator to conclude there are
enormous numbers of birds in cages and that turnover is high!

In Javanese culture a bird in a cage signifies the importance
of a hobby in a balanced life. At its heart this love of bird-
keeping as a hobby revolves around a sophisticated appreciation
of bird song, form and coloration and is an expression of the
nobler aesthetic qualities of human nature.

By far the most popular birds are the perkutut (Graceful dove)
and tekukur (spot-necked dove), whose gentle coo's imbue
neighborhoods with a sense of tranquility.

Next are the kutilang (Bulbul), still common wayside and
garden birds in Java which have pleasant tinkling calls. These
are followed by the real songsters which are all rarer and more
expensive.

Poksay (Laughing-thrushes), imported from China, increased in
popularity when the government banned public song contests among
native birds because of worries about trade in native songbirds.
Nevertheless thousands of homes still keep the traditional
favorites: cucak rawa (straw-headed bulbul), Murai batu (white-
rumped Shama and Kucica (magpie robins). Also in the top 10 are
parrots, imported from east Indonesia which are kept for their
color rather than their song.

The bird-keeping hobby is centuries old and started in times
when nature (territory and habitats) was vast and impacts on wild
populations hardly conceivable. This is no longer the case.

Demand for birds is growing in line with a burgeoning and
increasingly affluent population, but wild bird populations are
increasingly threatened by habitat loss, pesticides and human
persecution. It would be ironic and tragic if species were pushed
to extinction in the wild because people love to keep them in
their homes.

Many conservationists worry that the hobby is a major cause of
declines in native bird populations throughout western Indonesia.

Nothing could put this into sharper focus than the recent
shocking theft of 39 rare Bali starlings from a captive breeding
program in the West Bali National Park. The birds were snatched
by an armed gang in a violent raid, and are no doubt headed for
private collections.

There are five broad groups of birds kept as pets. Domestic
species like budgies and canaries. Commercially bred native
species, predominantly doves. Imported songbirds, mainly the
laughing thrushes from Indochina. Wild caught native songbirds
and wild caught native parrots. The last three of these are the
"conservation concern" groups because these birds mainly
originate from the wild.

Our survey shows large numbers of pet birds changing hands.
More than half of the households surveyed said they bought their
birds from bird markets and it is reasonable to assume these
birds come from the wild.

A significant proportion of homes receive birds as a gift,
which is consistent with our knowledge that travelers to the
provinces like to take home birds as a souvenir. For example, 48
percent of households keeping a talking myna said they received
it as a gift. Data from the provincial conservation office in
East Kalimantan reveals that more than 1,000 souvenir permits are
being issued for this species each year.

There is a clear correlation between keeping bird species in
the three conservation concern groups with income and age group.
Higher income groups and people in the 40 to 50 year age group
(the hobby years!) keep more native songbirds, parrots and
imported wild-caught laughing thrushes.

Lower income homes mainly keep doves and pigeons which are
commercially bred. In short, birds caught in the wild are a
consumer and status item in Indonesia.

The higher income and older households, who are also better
educated, should be the initial target of messages emphasizing
the fact that wild birds are a very finite resource, and one that
is declining fast in Indonesia. Until now the message that
natural habitats are shrinking in extent and that native bird
populations are limited and declining, appears not to have
permeated into the urban population.

There is no need for this love of bird-keeping to be a major
threat to wild bird populations. All the popular species can be
bred in captivity. The market for songbirds is massive suggesting
that commercial breeding of these species would make a sound
business proposition. ACNielsen advertising expenditure data
shows that "bird farms", mainly breeding doves and pigeons, are
surprisingly high spenders on magazine advertising, again
emphasizing the potential size of this market.

In our view the challenge is not increased regulation, but the
building of ethical consumerism among bird hobbyists. If
hobbyists refused to buy birds captured in the wild and instead
insisted on proof that birds for sale were bred in captivity, the
market would respond. Species such as the straw-headed bulbul,
yellow-crested cockatoo and orange-headed ground thrush are close
to extinction in many parts of their former range. The fate of
these species lies as much with the awareness and attitudes of
the urban middle classes as it does with government enforcement.

Paul Jepson is a consultant to Birdlife International --
Indonesia Program. Farquhar Stirling is with ACNielsen,
Indonesia's largest market research company.