Form after moult

23rd October, 2013
The video below is of Rave. He has just had his bath and is "drying out". The video was recorded on 23rd October, 2013.

Rave is a 7 months old shama that I bred.  He has just completed his first moult from juvenile.  I estimate that his tails exceed 12". He had a good moult and, as can be expected, his form is starting to rise.  I expect that it will take about 1 1/2 months more for him to be in top form.

At present, he does not show any reaction when a female is placed close to him.  This suggests that he still does not have the level of testosterone that is required to bring a shama into breeding condition and cause it to respond to a member of the opposite sex.

I think that Rave (like many of my home-bred shamas) will mature slowly and, even when he is in top form in about 1 1/2 months time, he will still not be mature enough to breed.  It will probably take another moult at least before he comes into breeding condition.

What I hope to do is to document Rave's progress from a lack of form after the moult to, hopefully, top form.  The whole process may take 1 1/2 months or less, depending on how fast his form rises. Hopefully, Rave's form will continuously improve so that I can document the improvement in videos and photographs.

A shama with no form is not tight-feathered.  This is shown in the first video of Rave.  Here, he is singing the song of the Yellow-vented Bulbul (Merbah Jambul).



2nd post - 23/10/13 +2days
Rave's body feathers have tightened a little.  He sings occasionally during the day.
The video below shows his present form.  His movements suggest the type of display he will have when in form.