Hunting, use and conservation of birds in Northeast Brazil

Abstract

Brazil has one of the highest avifauna diversities in the world, and many species are used by human populations in many different ways. Capturing wild birds for food, or to raise as pets, or for commercial purposes, together with the loss of habitat, have been the principal causes of population reductions among many species. The present work provides new information about the diversity of wild bird species used in Ceará State (Northeast Brazil) and the techniques used for capturing them, as well as the forces motivating this hunting, the commercial relationships involved, the maintenance of captive species, and the legal and conservation implications of the use of the regional avifauna. A total of 92 wild bird species belonging to 26 families were found to be used as food (39 spp.), for medicinal (3 spp.) and magic-religious (1 spp.) purposes, for commercial ends (46 spp.), or raised as pets (44 spp.), or killed to control their predation on domestic animals (5 spp.). Raising or selling birds is motivated by their singing and/or their natural beauty, with Thraupidae, Icteridae and Emberizidae being the principal families sought after for those purposes. The Family Columbidae has the greatest importance as a food source. Eleven traditional capture techniques (both active and passive) were identified. The commercial value of the birds varied depending on both intra-and inter-specific factors, and the trade in these animals involved both dealers who sold large numbers of individuals at low prices and specialists (''passarinheiros'') who sold just a few domesticated individuals of greater value. Our evaluations of transactions taking place in public markets indicated the probable over-exploitation of a number of species, and these were often imported from other states and countries. In addition to being illegal, the capture of wild birds can cause serious environmental problems that can only be addressed through public policies directed towards education, monitoring and control, alternative sources of income, wildlife management, and ecosystem conservation.

Mexican birds use according to environmental officers

“…There are reports of more males than females being caught (CruzRomo and Ita Olivera 2011), which officers consider a possible problem for bird populations. Ethnoonithological literature points that this situation is similar in others locations (see FernandesFerreira et al 2012; Alves et al 2012.…”

Birdlime in Western Myanmar: Preparation, Use, and Conservation Implications for an Endemic Bird

“…However, liming is a versatile technique that has been employed worldwide for a variety of reasons, including recreation and sport, agricultural crop protection, destruction of urban pest species, capturing birds for culinary reasons and to obtain feathers for the millenary trade, and capturing living birds for falconry, pets, and zoological specimens (Alves et al 2010;Fernandes-Ferreira et al 2012;Fitzwater 1982;Gibson 1881;MacPherson 1897;Reidinger and Libay 1979). When birdlime is employed for the latter purpose, birds must be rapidly released or will otherwise quickly succumb to exhaustion (Alves et al 2010).…”

“…Birdlimes are a class of adhesive entangling compounds used to capture birds (MacPherson 1897) by binding them to a substrate and rendering their resins and gums obtained from a wide variety of plants, often mixed with vegetable oils or turpentine to improve malleability (Fernandes-Ferreira et al 2012;Fitzwater 1982;MacPherson 1897). Occasionally plant-based dyes are included to camouflage the mixture (Alves et al 2010).…”

Game mammals of the Caatinga biome

“…In the Caatinga, the pressure on E. sexcinctus is intense. Many hunters developed strategies to maintain them in captivity aiming to "to clean" its digestive trait through a controlled diet, for human consumption (Alves et al 2012a;Fernandes-Ferreira et al 2012).…”

“…Furthermore, there is a clandestine commerce of products derived from these animals for several purposes, including use of the living animal as a pet. Some studies made in the free markets and fairs of cities of the semiarid region record that several products of mammal-fauna are commercialised for use in popular medicine (Alves et al , 2010b; Alves and Rosa 2010; Ferreira et al 2012;Ferreira et al 2009bFerreira et al , 2013) and religious magic (Alves et al 2012c). The use of the wild mammals as meat and their sale as pets also occurs clandestinely in the region (Barboza 2013; Barboza et al 2016).…”