The Little White Bird That's Worth its Weight in Gold
Bali’s most famous bird is also its most elusive. The
species is highly endangered. In 1993, there were only 34
Bali Starlings (Leucopsar rothschildi) left in the wild in
Bali. But the rarity of the Bali starling in its own territory
has been contrived to maintain an artificially high price.
The cost of these birds is higher inside Indonesia than elsewhere,
and breeding permits here are almost impossible to obtain.
The Bali Starling should be as common as the pigeon in Bali.
The glossy little white bird breeds freely in captivity, even
thriving in outdoor aviaries in the English winter. Artificially
incubated, a single breeding pair can parent up to 25 birds
a year. In more natural conditions, a pair of birds produces
between one and four eggs every three months with a survival
rate of about 10 chicks a year. They begin breeding at about
the age of two and continue reproducing for ten years. That’s
a lot of birds.
So why is the Bali Starling still so scarce that almost nobody
has seen one? Unfortunately, the little bird is a lot more
valuable as a rarity than it would be if it was allowed to
reproduce with its customary enthusiasm. And there are vested
interests in keeping it that way. It’s extremely difficult
to obtain a captive breeding license; in Bali, only the Bali
Bird Park, Bali Barat National Park and the Begawan Giri Foundation
have one. Illegal trade in Bali Starlings is rampant, with
each bird fetching about 10 million rupiah on the black market.
In Java there are two commercial breeders of the Bali Starling.
In Bali there are none. Captive breeding programs at Bali
Barat National Park, the Bali Bird Park and Begawan Giri Foundation
have all experienced robberies of their Bali Starlings. Poaching
in the National Park is common.
Bradley and Debbie Gardner, former owners of Begawan Giri
Estate, had long been intrigued by the paradox of this artificially
rare bird. In 1999 they began to set the wheels in motion
to import and breed the Bali Starling, since they were unable
to obtain permission to breed local birds. Drh Bayu Wirayudha,
a Balinese veterinarian specializing in birds, helped start
the captive breeding program. After a grueling four months
of paperwork, the Gardners were able to import two breeding
pairs into Bali. From these four birds, and with exchanges
of birds to increase the breeding stock, many generations
have been hatched and the Begawan Giri Foundation (BGF) Bali
Starling Recovery Project was established in 2001.
Bayu, who had successfully bred Bali starlings at the Bali
Bird Park since 1993, began to build up the collection. The
birds bred well in Begawan’s high, wet location. He
began to look for a safe place in which the birds could eventually
be released back into the wild. Although he located several
areas that would be ideal, he was unable to get official approval.
When I first wrote about this issue in 2002 (www.baliadvertiser.com/Greenspeak
The Paradox of the Bali Starling), the BGF was hoping to start
a release program along the Ayung River after educating local
communities on the value of allowing the birds to breed there
as a tourist attraction. For various reasons this interesting
plan could not be realized. In 2004, Bayu approached the communities
on Nusa Penida with the concept of making the island a Bird
Sanctuary. Over time, all 35 desa adat (traditional villages)
agreed to support the program. Reforestation, conservation
education and other support activities began in the villages.
In 2006, the BGF moved all its Bali Starlings to Nusa Penida,
and began releasing them in July. A second release took place
in December of that year, following the success of the first
release. A total of 49 birds have been released, with 46 surviving
to date. The adult birds have paired, nested and are already
breeding in the island’s coconut plantations and the
younger birds have adapted well. Only one returned to the
cage.
Bayu has high hopes that the program will succeed. Through
his approach to all desas individually, Bayu, in his role
of founder of the Bird Sanctuary, has concluded a traditional
agreement, known as awig-awig with all 35 desas to declare
Nusa Penida as a sanctuary for birds. Awig awig is a religious
commitment to protect the birds, which are dedicated to the
temples before release. Highly trained local staff monitors
the birds and continues education programs. Not a single bird
has been poached. Tourists are already beginning to visiting
Nusa Penida to see the Bali Starlings, the beginning of an
eco-tourism that could bring badly needed income to the island.
In April, the President of Indonesia visited Nusa Penida and
personally opened the cages to release 12 young Bali Starlings.
He thanked Bayu for his work conserving the species -–
the first official support the BGF program has ever received.
Despite the fact that the birds are breeding successfully,
the program is not yet finished. Constant monitoring and research
are necessary in order to prove to the authorities that the
Bali Starlings are not a risk to the environment of Nusa Penida.
A further fifty-six birds are still in the captive breeding
program, either for release on Nusa Penida or another safe
site, yet to be established. BGF is still looking for funding,
and should anybody be interested in supporting this program
to bring Bali’s emblem back from the edge of extinction,
please contact begawan@indo.net.id. They will be most grateful
for your support.
Following the confiscation of a friend’s birds by the
authorities, I asked Bayu about the regulations of keeping
birds as pets in Indonesia. Most parrots, including all cockatoos,
are protected. All birds of prey (eagles, hawks and owls)
and hornbills are also protected. That means they can be kept
as pets after two generations of captive breeding, and then
only if wearing a band around the ankle which contains its
registration information, along with a CITES certificate from
the breeder. A bureaucratic Catch-22 dictates that the breeder
cannot sell birds directly, but must sell through a dealer
who can issue the certificate.
