HomeNewsAnalysisSongbirds to Raptor Eggs, the Looting of Latin America's Bird Species
ANALYSIS

Songbirds to Raptor Eggs, the Looting of Latin America's Bird Species

BRAZIL / 3 FEB 2020 BY CHRIS DALBY AND ALEJANDRA RODRIGUEZ EN

The case of an infamous Irish trafficker who is facing extradition to Brazil for stealing peregrine falcon eggs has brought attention to the diverse ways in which the region's avian species are being plundered.

Jeffrey Lendrum is currently completing a prison sentence of three years and one month in the United Kingdom after being arrested in June 2018, having flown in with 19 eggs from endangered birds of prey in South Africa tied to his body, including vultures, eagles, hawks and kites, reported the Telegraph. His smuggled cargo was valued at some 100,000 pounds (around $130,000).

Prosecutors in Brazil, from where he skipped bail in 2016, are now requesting his extradition. He was arrested trying to board a flight from São Paulo to Johannesburg carrying four albino peregrine falcon eggs that he obtained illegally in Chile, which were worth an estimated $80,000 on the black market, the Guardian reported at the time. He was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in Brazil but skipped bail.

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Eco-Trafficking

While Lendrum’s high-profile heists have seen a book and numerous articles written about him, he is but the tip of the iceberg of those pillaging Latin America’s native species.

On January 15, a Belgian citizen, Hugo Conings, was arrested at Lima airport trying to smuggle 20 live birds in cardboard boxes onto a flight bound for Madrid, according to Peru’s forestry service. These included 18 tanagers, prized for their bright plumage, and two toucanets. Conings now faces up to five years in jail.

InSight Crime Analysis

Coverage about the smuggling of wild birds from South America has often focused on parrots, especially macaws, thousands of which are reportedly trafficked every year. But the region is facing a far more complex panorama of live bird and egg trafficking, with a range of species targeted for their plumage, speed or ability to carry a tune.

December 2018 report by the wildlife monitoring network Traffic and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) found that smuggling eggs instead of live birds had become an increasingly popular option in Latin America. Beginning back in 2002 on flights between Brazil and Portugal, eggs of parrots and toucans were initially the most frequently seen examples. But the trade has evolved as awareness of this crime has grown.

National Geographic report revealed that traffickers “launder” the eggs of macaws, flying them into Europe illegally, incubating them there and then selling them off legally as having been bred in captivity. The deception runs deep. The chicks are hatched in aviaries, fed by hand and have metal bands placed on their legs to simulate the breeding process.

The only way to detect if a bird was truly bred in captivity is to carry out a “DNA parentage test” by plucking and then examining feathers to see if the birds truly have the parentage described in their paperwork.

Parrots are not the only target. Lendrum’s poaching career revolved around birds of prey, including peregrine falcons. This bird, the fastest on earth that can reach speeds of over 320 kilometers per hour, is prized by falconry enthusiasts, often in the Middle East. His 2016 arrest in Brazil came when he tried to smuggle peregrine falcon eggs originally taken from Chile. An attempt was made to repatriate the eggs before they hatched, but only one chick survived and was eventually released in Patagonia, according to a British police report.

But the smuggling of eggs has not replaced attempts to steal live birds, as shown in the recent Peru case. “The other big trade is in songbirds,” Traffic spokesperson Richard Thomas told InSight Crime.

SEE ALSO: Butterflies, Beetles and Spiders: Costa Rica’s Smaller Eco-trafficking Targets

Songbirds such as the large-billed seed finch are taken from the wild to be used in songbird competitions. “People bet on how many songs it will sing in an hour, for example, or how long it can keep singing,” explained Thomas. Songbird competitions are popular pastimes in Guyana and Suriname, he said, adding that the practice had spread to expatriate communities in New York and the Netherlands.

These diminutive songsters can fetch between $3,000 and $5,000 each in the United States, according to a New York Times investigation.

But not all the bird trafficking leaves the region. The saffron finch, for example, has been smuggled from Peru to Brazil for singing competitions.

“Smaller species like songbirds haven’t received the same priority," said Thomas. "They reproduce faster and their population rebounds more rapidly, but there are real risks. The red siskin, popularly kept as a caged bird, has largely been extirpated from its natural range.”

And while the joint Traffic-WWE investigation found that the “international illegal trade in South American birds has been reduced to its lowest level in decades,” it's still a major cause for concern.

It also remains to be seen if the jail terms facing the likes of high-profile eco-traffickers like Lendrum will act as an effective deterrent.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

PERU / 6 DEC 2022

Peru is taking steps to tackle the threat of Venezuelan mega-gang Tren de Aragua, and have recently captured 30 members…

BRAZIL / 7 FEB 2023

A new report points out how the success rate in fighting money laundering across Latin America varies widely from country…

BRAZIL / 16 MAR 2022

Rocco Morabito’s story has all the makings of a great film script. The Italian mob, tons of cocaine, exotic destinations,…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…