Chirping contests endanger birds

Jungles of the archipelago are home to 131 threatened species, more than any other country except Brazil

Barely a few days old, perched on a nest of twigs inside an incubator, a newborn Indonesian songbird - cherished for its melodious chirp - tweets weakly as a tiny metallic ring is attached to its leg.

The tag shows potential buyers the chick was bred in captivity. It's an important symbol, which shows it was not trapped in the wild and smuggled, an illegal trade which sees birds packed in their thousands in shipping crates or stuffed in plastic bottles before being sold in giant avian markets in Indonesia's major cities.