Protecting the Javan Green Magpie

Chester Zoo is working with Indonesian partners to ensure the survival of multiple species, including the black-winged myna, the Javan pied starling, the Sumaran Laughingthrush and more. The vivid Javan green magpie is among them.

The wild Javan green magpie has only been observed in the wild by ornithologists a handful of times over the last decade. Now Critically Endangered, according to the IUCN Red List, there may be as few as 50 Javan green magpies still in living in the montane forests of Western Java, Indonesia.

These beautiful birds, known for their bright green plumage, black ‘bandit’s mask’ (a layer of glossy black feathers around their eyes) and complex, trilling calls, are in high demand by bird keepers. The Indonesian practice of keeping songbirds is a centuries-old tradition, but modern phenomena like widespread media coverage of popular bird singing competitions, online trade has exponentially increased the problem. Many songbirds, including the Javan green magpie, are being removed from forests in unsustainable numbers, making it difficult for their populations to recover. Several credible studies suggest there are now more Indonesian songbirds caged in private homes than living in the wild.

Trappers supplying the cage-bird trade scour the mountainside forests to capture wild songbirds and sell them at markets. It has been illegal to capture wild Javan green magpies since 2019, but there is evidence that specialist bird trappers are targeting the last few wild Javan green magpies for use in singing competitions.

The Javan green magpie (Cissa thalassina) plays a distinctive role in Indonesian bird-singing competitions—not as a competitor, but as a "master bird" used to train other songbirds. Its exceptional vocal range and ability to mimic various sounds make it highly valued for this purpose.

Owners of competition birds, such as white-rumped shamas and lovebirds, employ Javan green magpies to help their birds develop more complex and varied songs, enhancing their performance in contests. Every bird removed from their habitat reduces the chances of the birds reproducing and pushes the species closer to extinction in the wild.

However, there is hope.

Chester Zoo is part of an international ex-situ (outside the wild habitat) conservation breeding programme. Since 2010, Chester Zoo has worked closely with Cikananga Conservation Breeding Centre (CCBC) in West Java where conservationists are establishing protected populations of some of Indonesia’s most highly threatened species, including the Javan green magpie.

Now over half the global population of Javan green magpies held for conservation are managed at CCBC within the breeding programme. We are providing technical and financial support to the Indonesian organisation and have led on the publication of best practise husbandry guidelines for the species.

In the future, the descendants of the birds living at Cikananga Conservation Breeding Centre may be used in conservation translocations back to the wild at sites identified as suitable for Javan green magpies.

Beyond the breeding centre, we are supporting CCBC to promote the development of sustainable agricultural models and engage with wider farming communities and students to raise awareness about this unique species and develop alternative livelihoods to bird trapping and wildlife exploitation.

We have worked with CCBC and Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), with financial support through the EAZA Silent Forest campaign, to survey the Gunung Sawal wildlife reserve in West Java. This work, which began in 2021, allows us to better understand the local bird life. This is where, in 2023, the team recorded the song of the Javan green magpie, one of the only recordings made of the species in recent years.

We have also supported MMU researchers to survey Java’s most important mountain habitats, and their local communities, to better understand the drivers, attitudes and perceptions behind the Asian songbird trade crisis. 

This data from the songbird trade studies will help us build links with local trappers and sellers. Though it may seem counterintuitive, the knowledge, expertise and cooperation of trappers may be the key to successfully protecting Indonesian songbirds. Former trappers can contribute to the future of the Javan green magpie by becoming rangers, using their skills to protect the birds.

With the help of local communities and the passionate researchers and conservationists working in Indonesia and the UK, we can bring birdsong back to the forests of Java.