Exotic birds commonly trapped for collectors include (clockwise from top left): the hyacinth macaw, spix's macaw, the monk parakeet, Gurney's pitta, the sulphur-crested cockatoo and the red siskin. The International Council for Bird Protection (ICBP) has classified 1,000 of the world's 9,000 bird species as "globally threatened". Two-thirds live in tropical forests: Indonesia has the most, followed by Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Thailand and the Philippines. Much of the multi-million pound business of buying and selling exotic birds - some 20 million birds are traded worldwide each year - is entirely lawful. Even though trade is blamed for the decline of up to half the endangered parrot species - the RSPCA estimates that up to 60 per cent of wild-caught birds die of dehydration, stress or other maltreatment before arrival - habitat destruction is a far greater threat to the majority of birds.
