Competition Held On 7th November 2011

Unusually, there were 2 shama song competitions held on the same day in Singapore - 7^th November. There was a contest at Bedok, Block 121, organized by Andrew Tan and another at Block 159, Ang Mo Kio.

Michael and I entered our captive bred shamas in both contests. Apache was entered in Bedok where there were more than 50 entries and Piston was entered in AMK where there were more than 40 entries. 

Piston was second in the AMK competition.

The contest at Bedok was won by a young shama bred by Alan Pang. Apache only managed a consolation prize.  Jimmy's magnificent long-tailed shama was fifth.  It was bred by Ronald from Road Runner, a male bred by me. 

Vitamin B Complex (3)

 Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 11:47 AM

Hi David

I think there is some problems with my shama. I noticed that the feather under the body is turning to white colour instead of brown.

It also became very still and spend most of the day on the ground of the cage. Can you please advise me

Thank you

Regards

Allan

Hi Allan,

The feathers turning white is probably due a deficiency in minerals.  My experience has been that as a shama gets old, some of its feathers (usually the black tails) are unable, during molt, to absorb certain of the minerals that are required for pigmentation.  The result is the white colour.  The condition seems to be permanent as I have never seen feathers that have turned white revert to their original colour.  Apart from the change in colour, the bird is fine.

The cause of the bird being still and spending most of the day on the floor of the cage probably has nothing to do with the lack of minerals that cause the white feathers.  The most likely cause is a deficiency of Vitamin B Complex.  This vitamin is needed for the digestion of protein and also for the nerves to function properly.  A deficiency of this vitamin will result in the bird eating less.  Where the deficiency is great, the bird will get fits from which it may not survive.  Please check my blog on this topic.

Best regards,

David

National Bird Singing Competition

The National Bird Singing Competition was held at Potong Pasir, Singapore, yesterday.  I entered Michael's shama, Piston, for the competition.  I have been keeping the bird as Michael's interest in shamas is presently very low as he has reverted to his primary interest which is Oriental White-eyes and Red Whiskered Bulbuls.

Piston was the only shama that I had available for the competition as my other birds are molting as we approach the tail end of the breeding season in the tropics.  Piston placed 2nd in the competition.  He is what Michael and I refer to as a "competition bird".  By this we mean that he is easy to keep and to bring into form.  We expect that he will continue to improve as we better understand what is required to prepare him for competition.

I am happy to inform that the Shama Club (Singapore) has been registered in Singapore.
The purpose of the Club is to:

• To promote the keeping and breeding of White-rumped Shama (Copsychus malabaricus) as a hobby
• To promote the research and study of White-rumped Shama (Copsychus malabaricus) in all aspects.
• To organise exhibitions of White-rumped Shama (Copsychus malabaricus) and all equipment and materials related to shama.
• To foster friendship among local and international hobbyists and breeders.

An interim committee has been set up. The members are:
President: Dr Sun See Seng
Vice President: Derrick Goh
Secretary: R. Govindarajan
Asst Secretary: Ronald Thia
Treasurer: Kelvin Tan
Asst Treasurer: Augustine Wong
Other committee Members:
Dr Hsu Li Chieh
Eddy Cheong
Steven Lim
Paul Koh
Philip Lim
Tan Boon Hoh

The Club is now open for membership registration. Membership fee is S$50 per year. The Club invites all who are interested in the Shama to help by volunteering their services and knowledge.

You can write to shamaclub@hotmail.com for any enquiries."

 

Letter from Greece

2011/9/4 Manos Venianakis <venianakism@yahoo.gr>

Dear Mr. De Souza,

My name is Manos Venianakis and I'm writing from Greece.

I'm an avian culturist currently breeding common canaries,saffron finches and a variety of australian

finches.

I recently acquired a pair of shamas.The birds I believe are of the copsychus malabaricus indicus subspecies.could you please verify this?

I was in search of a pair for some time but finding them in Greece was impossible.In the end I had to import the birds 

from Germany and a breeder that was willing to sell a pair after the end of the last breeding season.They're about two years old.
My pair are the only shamas in Greece..I hope that this will soon change and other enthusiasts will follow.

While waiting for the birds the past few months, I had the time to do some research and was lucky enough to come across
 your blog which has become my "bible" regarding shamas.Trully an excellent job there,so please accept my sincere congratulations.

It has been a week now that I have the birds.The male has been into molt since then,which I believe is due to the change of their
environment and the difference in temperature.In Germany,the temps were around 18 celcious,while here in Greece and the isle of
Crete in particular,are currently around 30+ celcious.The birds are kept outdoors.

Strangely, the female does not show any signs of molt.

The former owner kept the pair together all year round and insisted that I did the same in order to avoid future problems in breeding season.

He advised to place a box in the flight for them to sleep in when weather gets colder,the way he kept them in Germany.He also suggested a nest
and nesting material should be placed.

I did that but unfortunatelly, although they're a true pair that have raised chicks,the male twice attacked the female the first couple of days and had to
seperate them.I left the female by herself in the flight to dominate the space and placed the male close to her in a large cage.

By doing this I also had the chance to approach the male in order to make him accept food from hand.The previous owner had never done that but I knew
it was possible with shamas.At the beginning he was wild,attacking the cage bars, wings wide open.Slowly and gently I had him taking the mealworms
from pinches, after 5 days of trials.

He got the message and to my surprise,the bird only yesterday came and sat on my hand which was a delightful treat for me...
The female still is very reluctant but always excited in the presence of live food.

I offer my shamas a variety of live food every morning and afternoon.Mealworms,crickets,grasshoppers,waxworms and guppies.The only live food they were
offered by the previous owner, were mealworms and crickets.They accepted the fish as if they'd always been in their diet,which was very pleasing.

Please note that I breed my own mealworms ,waxworms and guppies.I have also started a programme of breeding my own acquatic frogs,african clawed ones in particular.
The other insects are collected from nature and safe areas not sprayed with insecticides.They've even tried cicadas!

The dry food I offer them is a mixture that I prepare and consists of  the following..

Nutribird pellets,Unikomplet and C19.

Orlux insect patee.

Orlux tropic patee

Claus Green TYPE 2

They are also offered chopped apple and grapes which they seem to like very much.Again note that no fresh fruit had ever been offered to them in Germany!
B complex and multivitamins  along with calcium is on their diet as well.

I send you videos with the birds.I'd appreciate any comments and advice that you may have.Especially on how to handle the agression that occured and how to get the pair together again.
Please feel free to "correct" me if you think I do something wrong.I always seek the best for my birds and shamas are a "new territory" for me..I'd also like to know your opinion regarding the quality
of my pair.

I love my birds and in order to honour you for the valuable knowledge you offer to all us shama enthusiasts, I have named my birds with malayan names..Malik for my boy and Noor for my girl...

Thank you very much for your time,I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Manos

David De Souza via gmail.com to Manos

show details Sep 5 (2 days ago)

Hi Manos,

I found your email most interesting.  I hope you don't mind me giving my views in point form.

1.  A pair that has been separated for even a short while will treat each other like strangers.

2.  Birds that are strangers to each other should only be released into the same aviary when they are both in breeding condition.  Otherwise, the male will attack the female.

3.  A female in breeding condition will sing and display to the male in an adjoining cage.  If she squats and quivers her wings she is over-ready.  This means that if she is placed in the same aviary as the male and she rapidly builds a nest, at least the first few eggs will be infertile.

4.  A male in breeding condition will display and sing softly to the female which is nearby.  A male that visits a nest-box in the aviary is in breeding condition.  A male that is not in breeding condition will not visit the nest-box.

5.  The male will come into full breeding condition about 1 1/2 months after it completes the molt.  The female, about 1 month.

6.  A sudden change in temperature may cause a "false" molt.  That's why birds that are usually kept indoors should not be transferred outdoors.

7.  Changes in temperature affect birds differently.  Some molt and some don't.  I suppose that's why the female did not molt.

8.  The food that you offer looks fine.  Shamas that have live food readily available may not willingly eat dry food.  For this reason, I feed my non-breeding birds dry food until early evening before offering live food.

9. The most important vitamin for shamas is B complex.  In addition, I also feed a mult-vitamin.

Best regards,

David

Shama Prices

I receive many requests to buy my shamas and it may be of help if I set out the letter that I write in response to a general inquiry.

Hi

Thank you for your interest in my shamas.


I keep shamas as a hobby and may breed only a few pairs each year.


My aim is to produce birds of outstanding quality - with excellent structure, strong character, musical song, and primary tails that are at least 12”.  Such birds are rare and are much sought after.  They are hardly ever found any more in the wild. 


It has taken many years to develop my present strain of shamas.  I would discourage beginners from keeping such birds.  They are more difficult to keep in perfect condition because of their long tails and they cost many times more than the shamas available from the shops.


My excess males usually go to friends and I hardly have birds for sale - perhaps 3 to 6 juveniles a year. Last year, I had no juveniles available for sale.


The price of a male juvenile, if available, is from S$3,500.00 to more than S$4,500.00.  To put things in perspective, I recently paid S$7,000.00 for a captive-bred first molt male shama with tails of 11.5", and this was supposed to be a special price to me from a fellow breeder.


Because of the scarcity of the type of birds that I try to breed, there is always a waiting list of buyers for my juveniles.  If you are still interested and prepared to wait, please let me know your budget and I will get back to you if I have a shama that may meet your requirement.

Best regards,

David

Zee

Weekend iphone photos of 2 months old captive-bred juveniles

Constant attention to improving the character, structure and song of my captive-bred shamas has led to what is likely to be the most promising crop of youngsters this year than I have bred over the years.  My friends who have seen my birds and the results of my breeding program over the years also share this view.

Breeding brings with it the excitement and hope each year of producing that one in a million shama.

Weekends and spare time during the breeding season are enjoyably spent placing the taimong cages together and assessing the birds as I and my friends try to see if there is a special bird and if we can spot it.

However, nothing is certain with juveniles and what appears ordinary one day may turn out to be the special one on another occasion, perhaps after the molt.  That's why I and other serious breeders are so reluctant to part with our juveniles.

The accompanying photos are the result of assessing some juveniles over the weekend.  They added interest to the morning as we passed our time with each person having his personal favourite and exchanging comments over which of the birds is "better" than the others.

The birds look a little scruffy as the body molt has commenced but it may be a month or more before they shed their tails.

For me, I like the juvenile in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and last photo.  As can be seen, he is showy and I took more pictures of him than of his 2 brothers as he tended to pose more readily than them. He shows attitude and if I eventually decide to keep him, I may name him, "Boss".

This is not to say that his 2 brothers are not as "good" as him.  It is just that at the weekend, he looked the most promising to me but it may be different next week or in months when his brothers or others may outshine him.

In fact, on Saturday evening, I took along his brother when Jeffrey, Alan and I visited Dr. Sun's home where he had an informal gathering of some shama friends.  

His brother looked really good at Dr. Sun's home and received many favourable comments (6th, 9th and 10th photo). The third juvenile is in photos 3rd, 7th and 8th.  I was not able to fully catch his display and the best I could do is what you see in photo no. 8.  However, as commented by Jeffrey, "he lifts his tails until they hit his head".

I had caught the birds with a net from their aviary only the day before and they had not had time to settle.  I expect there will be more enjoyable weekends when we reconsider our choices and wait impatiently for the juveniles to complete their molt.

Breeding

Sat, May 14, 2011

Subject: Re: Questions from Penang Shama Lover

Hi David

I studied and learnt from your blog and web since 2006, I would like to thank you as this is the most resourceful web regarding shama

In the past, I have kept 3 females but not success in breeding program.

In 2009, a friend gave me one hand-fed female. I paired her with one wild catch male 7’ tail, below are the results

·         1^st nest in 2009 June, 4 eggs, one fertile, 3 unfertile, none of them hatched

·         2nd nest in 2010 Jan, built nest, but did not lay egg

·         3rd nest in 2010 Apr, built nest, but did not lay egg. In June, to simulate her, I ask one quail egg from pet shop, I put the quail egg in her nest, she sit and it hatched, my daughter is keeping the white color quail now

Introduced the same female with wild catch male 8.5”tail

·         4th nest in 2010 Oct 2nd, built nest 2^nd day, laid one egg in Nov, unfertile

·         5^th nest in 2011 Feb, built nest, seen the male courting, sit for 6 days, stop. The pair still in the outdoor aviary, stay peacefully, till to date, the nest still in the nest box. I have given them multi vitamin 3-4 times a week, daily with worms, crickets, 2-3 grass hopper, they did not like guppy

May I know should I separate them or let them continue in the aviary?

Is there anything else I can do?

Thanks in advance

NWK

Reply: Monday, May 16, 2011 8:58 AM
Subject: Re: Questions from Penang Shama Lover

If the pair  build their nest and there is then no eggs, it is likely that they may have destroyed and/or consumed the eggs.  The cause is stress caused by disturbance.  You need to see if this is so and take corrective action.

Infertile eggs is probably due to the male not being sufficiently fertile.  I feed my breeding birds a multi-vitamin 3 times a week, B-complex 4 times a week and an oil vitamin of A, D3 and E three times a week.

If there is a shortage of aviaries, I do not separate the pair after the breeding season.  Otherwise, I prefer to separate them.

Best regards,

David

Thu, Jun 23, 2011

Hi David

Updates:

I have visited several pharmacies unfortunately they don’t sell B complex in liquid form

On 27^th May, bought one liquid B complex, however, the hen start sitting on 26^th May, no chance to give her before she laid egg

I continue giving the pairs multi vitamins, B-complex every alternate day, no vitamin on every Monday

Egg did not hatch after 12 – 13 days, she stop sitting in day 23 (17 June). I have taken out the nest and found one egg. The egg was not in the middle of the nest, it was at the corner of the wooden nest.

I broke the egg, there was something inside, brown color, I believe chick died during sitting period

I have decided to change nest material. My worry is broom material too soft, egg might be pushed out from nest to the corner of the wooden box cause chick died during sitting period.

On 22^nd June, I put nest material in aviary, the hen starts build nest. Nest was built around 15% due to she had selected soft nest material (broom), she had rejected the harder material (minor nest material).

23^rd June, I found one egg on the ground near the nest material; I have moved the egg into the nest. I have put lot of soft nest material (broom), hope she continues to build the nest and start sitting tomorrow.

Regards

Reply 

Fri, Jun 24, 2011

Nowadays I get most of my vitamins and supplements from iherb.com.  This is an internet retailer that carries hundreds of brands.  I and my friends have found it to be very reliable.  When ordering, the buyer has the option of choosing a fixed shipping method which allows him to pay only US$4.00 for air shipment of up to 3 lbs in weight.  The parcel will take about 2 weeks to arrive.  I usually choose faster delivery of about 3 days and pay approximately US$12.00 for about 3 lbs in weight.  

I think any of the liquid B vitamins will do.  I prefer Twinlab because it is viscous and sticks more easily to the insects.

I occasionally have problems with the eggs being laid in a small depression in the nest cavity or not in the main cavity itself.  This is more the fault of the female in the way she builds the nest than the nesting material.

An egg on the ground suggests that one of the parents removed it from the nest and is not a good sign.  The pair should be disturbed as little as possible.

Best regards,

David