Association of reproductive traits with captive- versus wild-sourced birds in trade.

The wildlife trade is a billion-dollar global business, involving millions of people, thousands of species, and hundreds of millions of individual organisms. Unravelling whether trade targets reproductively distinct species and whether this preference varies between captive and wild-sourced species is a crucial question. We use a comprehensive list of all bird species traded, and trade Listings and records under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), in combination with a suite of avian reproductive parameters, to ask whether wildlife trade associates with particular facets of life-history. Across all trade, CITES Listing, and CITES trade, we highlight that large birds are more likely to be traded and listed, but that longevity and age at maturity show no association with CITES Listing or trade. We then used the CITES trade database to examine the association between life-history traits and captive and wild-sourced traded volumes over time. We find species across almost the full range of trait values in both captive and wild trade between 2000 and 2020. Captive trade volumes clearly associated with relatively longer-lived and early-maturing species, with these associations remaining stable and largely unchanged over time. Trait-volume associations in wild-sourced trade were more uncertain; only body mass had a clear association which varied from negative to positive through time. While reproductive traits are important in captive-sourced trade, species-level variation dominates wildlife trade with even congeneric species varying greatly in volume despite similar traits. The collection and incorporation of trait data into sustainability assessments of captive breeding facilities is crucial to ensure accurate quotas and guard against laundering. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.