In Java’s hills, former bird hunters are rebuilding a songbird haven

In the Menoreh Hills near Yogyakarta, Indonesia, a former songbird hunter named Parman once raided nests for buyers from nearby cities; the Javan blue flycatcher he used to catch is now critically endangered, with an estimated captive population in the tens of thousands dwarfing a wild population the IUCN suspects is under 1,000. Parman stopped hunting when birds grew scarce and switched to raising goats, but outsiders filled the gap he left.

That shift pushed him toward conservation: Donorejo village banned songbird hunting roughly two years ago, and anecdotal reports suggest flycatcher sightings have since increased. Residents have planted fruit trees and nectar-rich plants, and Parman's grassroots group is now mapping bird sightings around local springs, several of which are in critical condition from low water levels.

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