Red Whiskered Bulbul - endangered or not?

[Goldieinkathu]

I read the other day that the Red Whiskered Bulbul is an endangered species and that a total of 200 smuggled red-whiskered bulbuls were seized from two men in a forest in Ubon Ratchathani province on Wednesday.

When I first came to Phuket 20 years ago I heard many around the area, now it seems that the only time I hear one it's in a cage hanging outside someones house.I've not seen a free one in my area for years.

I see shops with 20-30 cages hanging outside with birds in them.

If they are an endangered species why is all this allowed to happen?

[jaidam]

i asked a guy with several captive ones at his home. he said they were captive bred and had licenses. catching wild ones was a no-go legally but like eveything, if theres money in it someone will take the risk. better to ban keeping them full stop.

[Goldieinkathu]

I see many boys with the different cages meant for catching the birds driving around on bikes. If they catch a bird that is still feeding chicks then the chicks will have less chance of survival with only one parent

I've read that these birds can live for up to 11 years and that they are monogamous. To keep them in a cage just to be able to enter them in a "singing competition" is sickening.

I just read checked and you're right , they are supposed to have a license to keep one - it would be interesting to know just how many people have one.

[isanbirder]

Not endangered, though not for want of idiots capturing them. in fact, extremely common in parts of the country. I used to see them often in Chiangmai, but haven't seen a single one in seven years in Buriram.

[CharlieH]

For those interested as to what exactly this is:

[Briggsy]

Not endangered though protected under law.

[gerryBScot]

these bulbuls on the road to extirpation in Thailand thanks to human action and inaction and they are now under threat in adjacent countries too. There's no will to enforce protection laws. There's a lunatic a few doors away from me - he's got a hawk eagle tied to his drying frame. An absolute stunner of a bird which most certainly wasn't intended to be kept this way. Sometimes we get owls in the soil and they'll kill it once they realise it is defenceless and can't use flight to get away. Before he had a falconet which got trapped on a TV aerial and he called out the fire brigade who happily rescued it and gave it back to him. So say good bye to Red-whiskered Bulbul as a wild bird.

[phazey]

A few years ago we had some kids hoisting cages up into the trees by our lake. I'll be mindful to let those cages down in the future.....

IIRC they did catch a few....

[cyberfarang]

where I live many of the neighbours keep birds in those tiny bamboo cages and some of the shops have them hanging outside.

Birds of many colours and varieties, have no idea what species they are. One of my neighbours had 3 ducks locked permanently in a small metal wire cage, absolutely sickening.

Hate seeing birds in cages and have no knowledge of what the laws are regarding captive birds. If there are laws covering this area, they are certainly not enforced.

[Goldieinkathu]

Not endangered though protected under law.

Well I guess that says it all.

As there seems to be no free ones around my area anymore I won't be able to test it.

On another note, I don't like to see the type (and believe me they are a type) who do try to catch birds hanging around my home, who knows what they're checking out while they're hanging around.

I'd like to lock them in a cage and let them see how it is to be denied their freedom and not be able to fulfil their instincts!

[Seastallion]

On Sunday mornings I pick up one of wifey's private students. Straight across the road from her house is an open section, with a roofed area and seating, and rows of rails to hang the bird cages from.

I observe the men sitting there...the cages all hanging up, and every now and then someone will call out something, or place a number on a cage, and then an owner will move the cage to a different rail....it all seems very odd and I can not discern how they can distinguish which bird is singing etc.

Does anyone know how these competitions work?

[tahaan]

I had a pair of these singing in my garden in Chumphae back in 2007. Not sure whether they were escaped birds or on the edge of their range. They later nested in a pot plant under my kitchen window and i took great delight watching them. However, after the eggs hatched one of the parent birds disapeared. About a week later one of the chicks vanished and then a couple of days later the nest was empty. They were probably taken overnight by my resident Tokay or snakes. Anyway, since then I have neither seen or heard an uncaged bird in the area. Sad.

[Goldieinkathu]

I had a pair of these singing in my garden in Chumphae back in 2007. Not sure whether they were escaped birds or on the edge of their range. They later nested in a pot plant under my kitchen window and i took great delight watching them. However, after the eggs hatched one of the parent birds disapeared. About a week later one of the chicks vanished and then a couple of days later the nest was empty. They were probably taken overnight by my resident Tokay or snakes. Anyway, since then I have neither seen or heard an uncaged bird in the area. Sad.

This is the problem, they have problems with other wild life without humans adding to their survival rates.

From the few replies so far most seem not to have seen these birds flying freely for a while.

I think I read that last year in the UK the RSPB did some sort of online survey to find out what birds were seen in people's gardens over a one week period around the country, from that they were able to get a good picture of declining numbers etc. I know there are TV members in almost every part of Thailand, it would be interesting to see just how many no longer see these birds in their areas.

[gomangosteen]

From when we lived in Chalong, Phuket, 2009, bird singing contests each Wednesday on Soi Yodsane, one of the roads leading to Big Buddha

.

[Goldieinkathu]

Ridiculous! Who's to say that one bird sings better than another. Judging by the cages it's more a "my cage is better than yours" .

I see they have moon shape handles, is this a Muslim thing by any chance?

Is there no one reading that can shed some light on this?

[KittenKong]

..... why is all this allowed to happen?

Same reason anything is allowed to happen here: money or status.

Most Thais just dont seem to care about anything else.

[thaipod]

I saw these birds in cages a few years back and asked my son to ask the man how much for the bird. From 20000 up . I was shocked.

I do like the golden teak cages, I wanted to but one and put a light in it for the balcony, also very expensive.

I would like the authorities to clamp down on this practice as they are not in their natural habitat. An large cage would be better where they can fly and able to breed would be better, they would be happier and sing better.