Unruffling the global feather trade: a comparative analysis of CITES and LEMIS records of feathers and bird skins
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(Published version)
Date
2026
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Broadbridge, J.
Watters, F.
Cassey, P.
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Journal article
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Wildlife Biology, 2026; 2026(1):e01553-1-e01553-12
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Jasmin Broadbridge, Freyja Watters, and Phillip Cassey
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Abstract
During the 18th and 19th centuries, bird feathers (class: Aves) were harvested from wild populations and sold globally in enormous quantities to meet the rising demand of the fashion industry. Although many laws now prevent similar widescale harvest, there is a paucity of studies on the trade that has continued to occur since the 20th century. Using data from the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Law Enforcement Management Information System (LEMIS), we synthesised the first modern analysis of the global feather trade. We discovered over 1800 bird species being traded for their feathers since the 1980s, with 18 of 41 orders found to be overrepresented in trade. Shipments ranged from occurrences of single species to large-scale trade involving multiple species. Traded species were more likely to have plumage that deviated from brown- and/or grey tones compared to non-traded species. Feathers from the culturally significant bald eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus and golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos were the most commonly traded of all species. We determined that overall, the modern feather trade does not appear to operate on the scale of historic harvests, and our findings indicate that modern trade poses a lower risk to the majority of wild bird populations globally. However, the endangered green peafowl Pavo muticus warrants closer examination to establish whether wild populations are directly affected by current demand in both domestic and international markets. Lastly, we suggest that the feather types (i.e. wing feathers, tail feathers) should be recorded on import and/or export to improve monitoring capabilities, and we propose that conservation managers are mindful of this poorly studied trade in future species assessments.
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© 2025 The Author(s). Wildlife Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Nordic Society Oikos This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.