A man has been arrested after he was allegedly caught with 22 rare birds stuffed inside plastic water bottles on a passenger ship in the city of Surabaya, eastern Java.

Police confiscated 21 yellow-crested cockatoos and an unspecified number of green parrots from a 37-year-old man alighting at the Port of Tanjung Pera, which are believed to have been intended for illegal trade.

Photographs show the birds, with their distinctive yellow plumage, peering out of the bottles after being found by officers.

The bottoms of the bottles had been cut off so the birds could be squeezed inside.

The yellow-crested cockatoo, which has been listed as a critically endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources since 2007, can sell for as much as £1000 through legal channels.

A rare Indonesian yellow-crested cockatoos placed inside water bottles confiscated from alleged wildlife smuggler (Reuters)

The birds have since been sent to Indonesia's natural resources conservation office, which deals with wildlife-trafficking cases, an official told the AFP news agency.

If found guilty of smugging, the man could face up to five years in prison.

More than 10,000 parrots, including Lories and Cockatoos, are caught from the wild in North Halmahera, Indonesia, every year, to supply the domestic and international illegal wildlife trades.

According to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Indonesia is currently struggling against a sudden trade increase in illegal bird sales.