- Researchers have built the first model mapping supply and demand in Indonesia’s vast songbird trade, finding that species traits like mimicry and rarity drive demand more than species identity.
- The study identified 332 species from trade data from 2015-2022, and grouped them into three demand clusters: competition birds, vulnerable species at risk from poaching, and household pets kept for status or rarity.
- Findings show substitution fuels the trade, with sellers offering similar species at different price points, quickly expanding pressure to new species and compounding conservation risks.
- The model offers a blueprint for conservation strategies, highlighting the need for market monitoring and community engagement to address cultural drivers behind the trade without triggering backlash.
Researchers have developed the first model to map how supply and demand interact in Indonesia’s highly lucrative songbird trade, revealing patterns that could help curb poaching pressure on rare and threatened species.
Market dynamics in Indonesia’s songbird trade appear to be driven more by species traits, such as mimicry, rather than species identity, according to a new paper published in the journal Biological Conservation. The researchers said understanding this trade aspect could uncover demand patterns that were previously overlooked, subsequently aiding in the development of strategies to reduce demand in a country whose songbird trade is one of the world’s most prolific wildlife trade sectors.
“There is one big question that I get asked a lot: who are buying these birds found in the markets and for what? Why are they selling so many species?” study lead author Karlina Indraswari, who conducted the research during her Ph.D. studies at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, told Mongabay by email.
“Then it continued to the question, why are there so many species recorded in the supply side, yet very little info from the demand side? … Therefore, can we, at least, get a rough idea of why certain species are traded. So, with that, I shared the idea to the team who were keen to assist me with this paper,” she added.
The bird trade thrives in Indonesia, where bird-keeping is a widespread pastime tied to status and cultural tradition, particularly among the Javanese, the country’s largest ethnic group. Its popularity has spread far beyond Java, following government relocation programs that carried the practice to other regions. Demand for wild-caught birds remains high, fueling a market that poses serious risks to the country’s threatened species.
The researchers wrote that Indonesia’s songbird trade could still be understood despite its complexity by piecing together scattered data sources through careful analysis and integrative assessment.
Karlina and her team focused on Java, the epicenter of the trade, analyzing data from 2015 to 2022 to trace market patterns and conservation risks. They drew on published studies, seizure records, and extensive field surveys covering households, bird competitions and vendors across six provinces.
The study identified at least 332 recorded species in Indonesia’s songbird trade, and offered a blueprint for understanding trade dynamics and guiding future conservation strategies by combining scarce demand data with richer supply records.
“Being able to understand patterns from scattered data while considering the aspects mentioned, however tentative, can at least provide some snapshot to existing patterns and is better than complete ignorance of any trade dynamics, especially in the light of emergent threats coming from the trade characterized by a highly dynamic and rapid shift in trends and species turnover,” the study says. “With such thoughts in mind maximizing the potential of existing yet limited data might even open a previously unexplored approach in wildlife trade data gathering and analysis.”
The researchers found that traits like mimicry, body size, taxonomy, rarity and conservation status shape demand in Indonesia’s songbird trade, driving risks of overexploitation. By analyzing trade dynamics, they identified three clusters of species: popular competition birds; vulnerable species linked to illegal harvesting; and household pets collected for status or rarity. These patterns reveal how cultural preferences and market pressures threaten diverse bird populations, underscoring the urgent need for closer monitoring and conservation action.
The study also suggested that substitution, rather than opportunistic hunting, was a key driver in Indonesia’s songbird trade, with more than 90% of unlabeled species fitting existing market demand clusters. Sellers appear to boost profits by offering substitute species with similar traits at different price points, widening consumer choice and market reach, the study says. It adds this pattern highlights how trade pressures can quickly expand to new species, compounding conservation challenges.
The new research supports the notion that pet demand harms a wide range of bird species, with competition-linked songbirds forming a high-demand, low-supply cluster that overlaps with some of the world’s most threatened species, said Vincent Nijman, head of the Oxford Wildlife Trade Research Group at Oxford Brookes University, U.K., who wasn’t involved in the research but reviewed it at Mongabay’s request.
Nijman said the research suggests parts of the wildlife trade may be supply-driven, noting nearly four times more species on the supply side than the demand side, with traders offering a wide range of birds for sale even without clear prior demand.
“Novelty birds do bring in money,” he told Mongabay by email. “People often think that wildlife trade is demand driven: the customer wants it and therefore sellers will sell it, and poachers/harvesters will collect it.”
Nijman also stressed the importance of ongoing market monitoring in Indonesia, noting that once-common bird species have become rare, while previously unseen species are now widespread.
“Bird markets are dynamic places, with ever changing trends and with many songbirds getting more and more difficult to find in the wild, the supply changes,” he said. “And yes, other far-flung areas open up, and transport links improve, allowing new players, and new species, to enter the market.”
The authors of the new study note that the identified patterns should be taken as starting points for further study to confirm them before responding with conservation strategies. However, they said the analytical tools could be applied to other wildlife markets, offering decision-makers critical insights to better target species traits and groups in tackling the illegal and unsustainable trade.
“Work in this space is really sensitive … we cannot approach it with a conventional ban or laws or anything,” Karlina said. “[I]f we do so, we will lose trust from the most important stakeholder, the community (and one of the main drivers of the market).
“So, we hope to see whether we can get work done to understand the community side — and what needs to be done to avoid backlash detrimental to conservation.”
Basten Gokkon is a senior staff writer for Indonesia at Mongabay. Find him on 𝕏 @bgokkon.
See related story:
Songbird trade in Indonesia threatens wild Sunda laughingthrush
Citations:
Indraswari, K., Fiennes, S., Cassey, P., Cahyadi, G., Noske, R., Ihsan, F., … Wilson, C. (2025). Market patterns within Indonesia’s songbird trade. Biological Conservation, 310. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111318
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