Description
The trade in wild caught songbirds poses a major threat to several species but has received little attention compared to other illegal wildlife trades especially in Latin America and the Caribbean. Species from the Guiana Shield like the red siskin and great billed seedfinch have significantly declined due to trapping for the pet trade and singing competitions on both a domestic and international scale. International trade including illegal trade occurs to supply demand from diaspora communities in the U.S. Canada and Europe with several recent seizures of smuggled birds en route from Guyana to New York suggesting an illegal trade exists to serve demand from Guyanese communities there. Widespread bird racing competitions occur regularly in Guyanese communities in New York. Some report that quarantining birds negatively affects their singing ability but no research examines if preferences for wild caught birds drives unsustainable harvesting or illegal imports. We lack data on demand from diaspora communities who bring traditions of bird keeping deeply tied to cultural identity needed to drive change and mitigate the threat of unsustainable trade.
This project addresses evidence gaps around consumer behavior and drivers of demand for songbirds in Guyanese communities in New York as well as conduct a behavioral intervention to influence demand. We also conduct broader legal analyses of the legal context of the trade and the role of online sales in international trade to the US. We collect the first in depth data on trade keeping and racing of songbirds in these communities using online information on the cultural importance of the trade online sales scraping qualitative interviews and quantitative consumer surveys. We will then codesign behavior change interventions with key stakeholders in the trade to ensure that interventions are relevant to those who it targets. The goal is to reduce demand for and trade in illegally and unsustainably sourced songbirds from the Guiana Shield.
The project objectives are to 1. Map key species actors and trade characteristics supplying bird racing in New York. 2.Identify behavioral drivers of trade in wild and illegally traded songbirds using segmentation to prioritize target audiences. 3.Improve sustainability using codesigned interventions implementing and evaluating an initial intervention soliciting stakeholder feedback to refine approach and redeploying the enhanced intervention to maximize impact. With this project we hope to drive change that can help reduce threats to biodiversity but also generate insights that can inform other conservation efforts for songbirds in the Americas and elsewhere in the globe.
