The illegal trade of wild birds in a social network: A call for action from Argentina

Abstract The illegal trade of wild birds is a large threat to biodiversity and sellers often use social media to traffic wildlife. By monitoring and characterizing the trade of wild and domestic birds on Facebook, we show that this illegal e-commerce remains widespread throughout Argentina, despite a decrease in activity in 2023 compared to 2017, highlighting the persistence and magnitude of this issue. In 2017, we found 96,354 users in 127 buying/selling groups in 18 provinces, of which 61% were public. In 2023, we found 58,647 users in 76 groups in 14 provinces, of which 66% were public. Analyzing one group in 2017 and two groups in 2023, we found 67 bird species were offered for sale. All birds for sale in these groups had illegal origins (i.e., without authorized bands or permits), including two Endangered and one Near Threatened species. Passerines (mainly Thraupidae, Fringilidae, and Cardinalidae species) were the most offered group, but parrots, raptors, and other bird groups were also available. Saltator aurantiirostris (Golden-billed Saltator) was most frequently offered for sale and had the highest interest from users in the two largest analyzed groups. The Endangered Gubernatrix cristata (Yellow Cardinal) reached the highest price (up to 328 USD), it was also frequently offered for sale (5th position in 2017), and had high user interest (2nd position in 2017). We found that Facebook was frequently used for illegal bird trade in Argentina, including species of conservation concern, which can threaten a number of species. We call for coordinated and interdisciplinary actions that engage authorities, social media companies, and local communities, which will be needed to enact top-down and bottom-up measures to continue reducing and eventually halting wildlife-related illegal activities. A translated Spanish version of this article is available in the Supplementary Material.