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Cage birds - Java (1 Viewer)

A programme last night on the BBC news channel which I think, may be show again over the weekend, showed the cagebird hobby in Java.

It's not all bad news with at least one wealthy Javan getting involved in conservation on his own land, in this case Black-winged Starlings. A Rufous-fronted Lughingthrush was shown and they said that they were literally, on the edge of extinction and currently found on just one mountain. I assume that mountain is Gunung Gede but theye were relatively easy to see when I was there in 2002, has their status changes so dramatically?


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Apparently keeping cagebirds is so embedded in Indonesian culture that it is impossible to change.

However, all fashion is essentially following a model. Maybe some Indonesian celebs or soap opera stars can be seen keeping only cage-bred birds, or only domestic varieties of parakeets and canaries? Say, we do not keep forest birds, the only fashionable bird is blue parakeet or a red canary with fluffy crown. Wouldn't it help?
 
I haven't been to Indonesia for a few years but I definitely do not miss seeing bird cages hanging outiside every home and shop.



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Last edited:
jurek said:
Apparently keeping cagebirds is so embedded in Indonesian culture that it is impossible to change.

However, all fashion is essentially following a model. Maybe some Indonesian celebs or soap opera stars can be seen keeping only cage-bred birds, or only domestic varieties of parakeets and canaries? Say, we do not keep forest birds, the only fashionable bird is blue parakeet or a red canary with fluffy crown. Wouldn't it help?
Click to expand...

It sounds like some folks are trying to do that, what with limiting song competitions to captive bred birds only
 
Hi Andy,

andyadcock said:
I haven't been to Indonesia for a few years but I definitely do not miss seeing bird cages hanging outiside every home and shop.
Click to expand...

I once read that due to their great popularity as cage birds, the Common and Thrush Nightingales came close to extinction in Germany in historical times.

No idea what the factor was that saved them, though.

Regards,

Henning
 
I've never been to Indonesia, but I was aware of this problem from a birder friend who has visited - apparently similar problems in Vietnam with the popularity of cage birds?

While it is appalling that it is having such a devastating effect on bird populations, there is surely hope that a society which is so interested in birds can change for the better, with (as others have suggested) the right sort of publicity from key influencers. Probably my own interest in birds as a young child was influenced by having a pet budgerigar, and I remember visiting cage bird shows in Newcastle long before I got into birding and discovered how much more rewarding it was to discover wild birds. I'd perhaps give Indonesia more chance of turning into a nation of birders than those societies who see them primarily as a hunting target - you've just got to hope that by the time that happens they still have something to watch.
 
kb57 said:
I've never been to Indonesia, but I was aware of this problem from a birder friend who has visited - apparently similar problems in Vietnam with the popularity of cage birds?

While it is appalling that it is having such a devastating effect on bird populations, there is surely hope that a society which is so interested in birds can change for the better, with (as others have suggested) the right sort of publicity from key influencers. Probably my own interest in birds as a young child was influenced by having a pet budgerigar, and I remember visiting cage bird shows in Newcastle long before I got into birding and discovered how much more rewarding it was to discover wild birds. I'd perhaps give Indonesia more chance of turning into a nation of birders than those societies who see them primarily as a hunting target - you've just got to hope that by the time that happens they still have something to watch.
Click to expand...

Most people in Indonesia are struggling to make a living but, if they can make money from birds they will, in whatever opportunity comes their way, there are and I suspect will remain, very few 'birders'.

One of the really serious problems is the theft from breeding institutions of the mage rare species such as Bali Mynha which change hands for a great deal of money. Whilst such birds command such a price, they will never be safe.


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