At least 75 million birds live on the Indonesian island of Java as pets in cages; Of some species such as the Java bushster (Cissa Thalassina) or the black wing Maina (Acridother's melanopterus), there are now more animals in captivity than in the wild. And Java is just a country of many in which wild birds are kept massive. Rebecca Senior from Durham University and her team have now determined a connection between the coloring of songbirds and their exploitation of the extinction, as they explain in »Current Biology«: The more colorful and more unique a kind of color, the higher their exploitation.
The analysis of the working group shows that the tropics are the global center of colorful birds: these regions accommodate more than 90 percent of the most colorful species and almost two thirds of the species that have a unique color pattern. At the same time, a third of all types of birds are affected by trading for pets. The dealers aim particularly intensively on certain groups related to each other, which are strikingly intensively colored and often also have unusually melodious voices. For example, they form the core of the Southeast Asian songbird crisis, which clears and lets entire forests empty. Parrots are also in demand.
Based on these relationships, the scientists identified a further 500 songbird species that could become the focus of catchers and keepers in the future after the populations of their current favourite animals are exhausted. In addition to bright blue, red or yellow species, bright white species are also particularly threatened. A classic example of this is the bali tar (Leucopsar rothschildi), which is completely white except for its blue eye ring. In the wild, bird trappers had almost completely exterminated it; today it survives only in a few places. And poachers even raided breeding stations to rob the valuable animals.
"The loss of colorful species also leads to a direct loss of aesthetic value. This is problematic, as this value is often the main motive and capital for conservation efforts," says Senior. Many people travel around the world to observe such species. If they disappear from nature, this also reduces the tourism potential of the areas and thus long-term revenues.
