86 



The Conservation Crisis 



International Trade in Live Exotic Birds Creates a 



Vast Movement That Must Be Halted 



Bird Trade Subcommittee of the AOU Conservation Committee' 



While we have heard warnings about a large de- 

 cline in birds that breed in the Temperate Zone and 

 winter in the tropics ("Neotropical migrants"), a "re- 

 verse migration" of sorts is draining avian diversity 

 from many tropical areas to the living rooms of de- 

 veloped countries. In recent yejirs, the international 

 trade in live exotic birds has grown greatly. Estimates 

 of the current magnitude of the live trade in exotic 

 birds range from two to "five million individuals an- 

 nually (Inskipp 1990). These figures exclude the trade 

 of 15.9 to 26.5 million swiftlet nests annually from 

 southeast Asia (Lau and Melville 1990). 



Because the United States is presently the largest 

 importer of exotic birds in the world (MuUiken and 

 Thon^en 1990), the conservation of birds in other 

 countries will be affected greatly by regulations of 

 the United States concerning trade. The AOU Con- 

 servation Committee formed a subcommittee of or- 

 nithologists concerned with bird trade issues in July 

 1990. The charge of this subcommittee was to review 

 the problems associated with the bird trade and to 

 make recommendations for effective ways to deal with 

 the detrimental influences of trade on wild bird pop- 

 ulations. 



Nearly two million birds from 85 countries were 

 legally imported into the United States between 1986 

 and 1988 (Nilsson 1990). Forty-three percent of these 

 birds were parrots, while about 54% were finches (Es- 

 trildidae, Fringillidae, and others) primarily from Af- 

 rica. The remaining 3% represented n different fam- 

 ilies. The countries exporting the most birds to the 

 United States were Senegal, Tanzania, and Argentina. 

 Accurate data on the scale of internal (nonexpert) 

 trade in birds are not avaiilable, although this trade 

 is also thought to be substantial in many countries. 



Parrots represent the largest monetary share of 

 commerce. Forty-seven percent of all parrots sold in- 

 ternationally, and perhaps 80% of all Neotropical par- 

 rots, are sold in the United States. Most of the re- 

 mainder is bought by members of the European 

 Economic Community and Japan (Thomsen and Mul- 

 liken 1991). Approximately 1.8 million Neotropical 

 psittadnes, nearly all captured from the wild, were 

 legally exported for trade from 1982 to 1988 (Thomsen 

 and Mulliken 1991). Estimates of internal trade, parrot 

 mortsJity before exportation, and the magnitude of 



' Steven R. Beissinger (Chair), Noel F. R. Snyder, 

 Scott R. Derrickson, Frances C. James, and Scott M. 

 Lanyon. 



illegal smuggling suggest that the number of birds 

 removed from the wild would actually have been two 

 or three times as great as the legal expoits Qames 1991, 

 Thomsen and Mulliken 1991). 



This multimillion dollar trade increasingly threat- 

 ens the existence of wild bird populations and even 

 entire sf)ecies. Although nearly all exporting coun- 

 tries are members of the Convention on International 

 Trade in Endangered Flora and Fauna (CITES), and 

 many exporting countries have adopted trade regu- 

 lations, the domestic and international laws that are 

 supposed to ensure that trapping for trade does not 

 result in species' declines have been largely ineffec- 

 tive (Thomsen and Mulliken 1991). Trade now threat- 

 ens the very existence of a number of these species, 

 but principal problems have been seen with psitta- 

 cines, which as a group are unable to sustain much 

 pressure on wild populations (Inskipp et al. 1988). 

 Collar and Juniper (1991) concluded that 42 of ap- 

 proximately 140 species of Neotropical pjirrots are 

 currently at risk of extinction. For 22 of these species, 

 trade is a major cause of endangerment. Examples of 

 parrots now critically threatened by trade include the 

 Spix's Macaw {<Z\janoT;)s\Ha spixii), the Hyacinth Macaw 

 {Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), and the Red-crowned 

 Parrot (Amazona viridigenalts). Examples of other birds 

 threatened by trade include Toucan Barbets {Semnor- 

 nis ramphastinus). Red Siskins (Spmus cucullatus), and 

 Yellow-faced Siskins {Carduelis yarrellii) (Nilsson 1989). 

 Thus, trade and habitat destruction together now 

 clearly represent the two major conservation prob- 

 lems afflicting these and many other birds worldwide. 

 Captive breeding is the major source of individuals 

 in trade for only a relatively few sjjecies— Budgeri- 

 gars (Melopsittacus undulatus). Cockatiels (Nymphicus 

 hollandicus). Common Canaries (Serinus canaria). Zebra 

 Waxbills {Amandava subflava), and Bengalese Finches 

 (Lonchura domestica), most Agapomis lovebirds, several 

 species of cockatoos (Cacalua), and a number of Aus- 

 tralian finches (e.g. Chloebia gouldiae, Poephila cincta, 

 and P. acuticauda). For most other species, essentially 

 all individuals in trade come directly from the wild, 

 either trapped as free-flying adults or taken as nest- 

 lings. In many areas the harvest of nestlings of hole- 

 nesting species involves destruction of nest trees. This 

 poses a further stress on wild populations limited by 

 nest availability (Beissinger and Bucher 1991). The 

 Bird Trade Subcommittee believes strortgly that current 

 numbers of wild-caught live exotic birds being imported into 

 the United States for commercial activities are indefensible 



982 



The Auk 108: 982-984. October 1991 



