Success With Java Sparrows

Includes Species Profile
User avatar
E Orix
...............................
...............................
Posts: 2740
Joined: 29 May 2009, 23:30
Location: Howlong on NSW/Vic Border 30km from Albury
Location: Howlong NSW

GregH
I travel to Indonesia (Java,Bali) 4 or 5 times a year and over the last 3 to 4 years there has been a marked drop off with the amount of birds available in the markets.There are still the brightly coloured Cockbirds but in alot of cases no dull coloured females(eaten).
A major reason is the trappers can't sell the birds as the wholesalers are not allowed to export them into the European/UK markets as most borders are being closed to trapped birds.
Each time I go over there I have my driver take me to the market and I will buy one or two true pairs of birds and then we go to another area and I release them much to his amazement.He says why waste the money.
Generally they are birds that should not be kept in captivity(raptors) or others that are just too beautiful to waste away in a cane cage.
When you travel through the southern highlands of Java there are several trappers selling on the side of the road, the prices are so cheap and some of the birds and even mammals are so rare it is sad to see how they are held.
I was offered a litter (2) of spotted kittens from one of there very rare wild cats.Cost a few dollars and the authorities would have thrown me in jail I guess. The same guy sold me 8 black bibbed Tits and 3 Fairy Blue Birds for $20 and threw in a cage, normally they are handed to you in a paper bag. When my driver told him they were for release he just stared at me. They were set free miles from his location.
I do not know if any of the birds survive(most likely) but I at least give them a chance.
The closing of borders seems to have caused the slow down in Vietnam where I saw Silver Eared Mesias at $2 each and further north I was offered Pekin Robins at $1.50 each
I will be in Indonesia again in a couple of weeks and will take the Camera. If I can work out how to post pictures then I will do so.
User avatar
GregH
...............................
...............................
Posts: 1671
Joined: 17 Feb 2009, 08:20
Location: Brisbane
Location: Chapel Hill, Brisbane Qld

Well the supply of Indonesian lorikeets has all be dried up here in Manila. I'm told that the guys involved are all in jail. I feel better that the number son show in the markets reflect policing and lack of export markets rather than any actual drop in bird numbers. The Java sparrow however must be an exception to this as it is not CITIES 2 and used to be a lot more common. Even here in the Philippines I'm told the numbers of these feral birds have dropped and I reckon it has to do with how rice is grown and the amount of land taken up by the human infestation.

I never thought about releasing trapped birds except at those Buddhist shrines as I don't want to increase the market although its good news for the individual bird involved. If it was particularly rare then it's a good thing but what if it’s a police sting? Like you I hate seeing the raptors caged and doomed to live out their lives in small filthy cages.
Post Reply

Return to “Java Sparrow”