Hindawi Publishing Corporation Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Volume 2012, Article ID 360913, 13 pages doi:10.1155/2012/360913 Research Article The Relationship between Plants Used to Sustain Finches (Fringillidae) and Uses for Human Medicine in Southeast Spain Antonio Belda, 1 Victoriano Peir ´ o, 2, 3 and Eduardo Seva 2, 3 1 Departamento Ciencias de la Tierra y del Medio Ambiente, Universidad de Alicante, Campus San Vicente, Apartado 99, 03080 Alicante, Spain 2 Departamento de Ecolog´ ıa, Universidad de Alicante, Campus San Vicente, Apartado 99, 03080 Alicante, Spain 3 IMEM, Universidad de Alicante, Campus San Vicente, Apartado 99, 03080 Alicante, Spain Correspondence should be addressed to Antonio Belda, antonio.belda@ua.es Received 29 December 2011; Revised 13 February 2012; Accepted 14 February 2012 Academic Editor: Andrea Pieroni Copyright © 2012 Antonio Belda et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. We analyzed plants that are traditionally used by wild bird hunters and breeders to capture and promote captive breeding of Fringillidae (finches or songbirds) in the province of Alicante, Spain. The majority of plants used in songbird breeding have medicinal properties in traditional human medicine (48 different uses); thus, another main goal was to show their relationships with human medical uses. We compiled a list of 97 plant species from 31 botanical families that are used to attract finches and identified 11 different use categories for these plants in finch keeping. The most common uses were for trapping birds and as a source of food for birds in captivity. Cannabis sativa has the greatest cultural importance index (CI = 1.158), and Phalaris canariensis (annual canary grass or alpist) was the most common species used to attract Fringillidae and was used by all informants (n = 158). Most of the 97 species are wild plants and mainly belong to the families Compositae, Gramineae, Cruciferae, and Rosaceae and also have medicinal properties for humans. In the study area, the intensification of agriculture and abandonment of traditional management practices have caused the population of many songbirds to decline, as well as the loss of popular ethnographic knowledge. 1. Introduction Throughout the ages, the human race has used plants for various purposes [1], particularly those that are accessible. In the Iberian Peninsula, several studies have been developed on medicinal plants [2–8] and edible flora [9, 10], as well as some general ethnobotanical studies [11–15], and others about the importance of home gardens and cultivated areas in the evolution of useful flora [16]. However, few studies have described the use of plants in ethnoveterinary medicine [17, 18], or in attracting and maintaining birds of the Fringillidae family in captivity [19, 20]. Plants have been used in traditional medicine for several thousands of years to treat and cure diseases in domestic animals and human populations, especially native ones [21, 22]. Furthermore, in nature, wild birds use particular plant species, which possess insecticidal and bactericidal properties, to build their nests. This practice creates optimal conditions for egg laying and incubation [23]. The ecological knowledge of local traditional uses that depend on the dynamics of natural resources has been reflected in numerous studies [24–26], considering the eco- logical knowledge of local communities of hunters, anglers, and gatherers [27]. The culture of capturing songbirds was introduced to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans and had its beginnings, as did other forms of hunting, in the absolute necessity of human nutrition. Thus, these birds were traditionally caught as a source of food in Valencia, at least since the 17th century [28]. Today, following old customs and culinary habits, there are still hunters who hunt this group of birds in order to eat them. On the other hand, the term “pajareros” describes people who are dedicated to hunting, breeding, or selling birds [29]. Although these birds are not hunted excessively, it