Characteristics and patterns of international trade in CITES-listed live birds in China from 2010 to 2019

There is a large international trade in live birds, which could affect wild bird populations at both national and global scales. It is thus crucial to understand the temporal and geographical dynamics of international trade in wildlife periodically to inform management. We characterized the international legal trade in live birds of species listed in the Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) by China from 2010 to 2019, and investigated the potential factors influencing this trade. According to the CITES Trade Database, China imported more than 90,000 live birds of about 130 species and exported only 603 live birds of 10 species from 2010 to 2019, indicating that China was a major importer of this group. Most bird species imported by China were Psittaciformes (e.g., Grey Parrot Psittacus erithacus, accounting for 86% of the total imported individuals), while most birds exported from China were Psittaciformes (75%; e.g., Fischer's Lovebird Agapornis fischeri) and Falconiformes (24%; e.g., Saker Falcon Falco cherrug,). These species were traded for different purposes such as commercial activities, zoo, and personal needs. Trading partners included over 40 countries: South Africa, Mali, Guyana, and Suriname were the main exporters of live birds to China, while Qatar and Saudi Arabia were the main importers of live birds from China. The optimal generalized linear model suggested that the bird species richness imported to China was only positively correlated with bird-keeping culture of the exporting countries, which contributed a large quantity (77.87%) to the variation of the bird species richness in trade based on the hierarchical partitioning analyses. Our results may have broad implications for better management of international bird trade with China, including improving population monitoring within their native ranges and invasion risk assessment of the most highly-traded wild-caught and non-native species, improving monitoring and reporting their trade, etc. Further studies are needed to look at trade in particular groups of birds (e.g. Psittaciformes and Falconiformes) for better understanding and management.

Automated summary

The study found that China is a major importer of live birds, with most imports being of Psittaciformes for purposes such as commercial activities, zoos, and personal needs. China's main trading partners for live birds include South Africa, Mali, Guyana, Suriname, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. The richness of bird species imported to China is positively correlated with the bird-keeping culture of the exporting countries.