Yellow-Breasted Bunting Now Protected In Japan

Is the Yellow-breasted Bunting the next Passenger Pigeon?

 

This Endangered bird is now protected in Japan, where it is eaten in massive numbers. Hopefully that will protect it.

 

Bad News: the species is now Critically Endangered.

 

They might be protected in JP, but the hunting of the bunting is in China. And western zoos, at least in the UK, seem to care little for saving small passerines. Where there is a decline for 3 decades and pressures were mounting on their population, and there is no/inefficient legal protection wherever they are vulnerable on the migration path... where are the captive flocks in advance?

 

New conservation efforts for the species in Hong Kong:

Bringing the ‘rice bird’ back to Hong Kong

 

I'm a little surprised there's no captive breeding program for this species. Emberiza buntings are successfully kept and bred in captivity so a European breeding program for them seems like a no brainer to me.

~Thylo

 

Does it make sense to have an European captive breeding program for an Asian long distance migranting passerine? They need intact migration instinct to survive in the wild and how can birds bred in captivity for generations be tested they still posses it? I am afraid this species survival will depend solely on effective protection of wild populations. The only way captive birds can help is awareness if they are kept in zoos within its range and used for PR.

 

This species is (or at least was) native to parts of Europe as well. Also, the migration argument doesn't make sense to me as there are many, many long distance migrant species which have thrived in captivity, just look at most North American passerines. With the bunting being called "the next Passenger Pigeon" it's important to note that, despite being a long distance migrant and colonial breeder, the pigeon bred very well in single pairs in captivity in foreign zoos. The species needs protection across its entire range if it's going to survive, something which it does not and may never have. A captive assurance population would still be very important if the unthinkable happens and if nothing else they could be used to raise awareness for the species, similarly to highly endangered passerines such as Blue-Crowned Laughingthrush, Golden Whiteeye, Bali Mynah, and Javan Green-Magpie all of which have breeding programs outside of their native range.

~Thylo