Monitor Songbird Lab at the CITES CoP19

— Posted on by Simon Bruslund
Simon and Sunny at the CoP

Another important conservation partner of the EAZA Silent Forest Group indirectly present at the CoP19 is the Monitor Conservation Research Society. Monitor collaborates closely with Silent Forest doing shared research projects and publications on the global songbird trade.

At the CoP19 Sunny Nelson from Lincoln Park Zoo and Simon Bruslund from Marlow Birdpark are presenting and representing the Monitor Flag in the absence of the rest of the team which together form the “Monitor Songbird Lab”.

The Monitor Songbird Lab investigates and researches the global trade in Songbirds and are currently expanding its focus beyond the Southeast Asian region. With projects coming up in West Africa as well as both North- and South America.

One of the larger projects of the team is the Songbirds in Trade Database which we hope to be launching very soon, so stay tuned for more news on this.

The Saffron Finch (Sicalis flaveola) is possibly the most trafficked songbird in the neotropics but more research is urgently needed. Interestingly this species can be seen in larger flocks all around the Panama Convention Center the venue of the 2022 CITES Conference of the Parties. In Panama this species is not native but likely established here due to the pet trade.