Letter from Honolulu

Eric Dagner's email to me of 5 April	Apr 5 (5 days ago)

Hi,

I came across your website searching for a white rumped shama 

I would like to share a story with you for insight or to add to your repository

collecting information. 

A few years ago I was clearing an area of land of garbage in suburb very

near downtown Honolulu.  The district is called Makiki on Oahu.  After 

spending some time clearing the land a very young male White rumped 

shama appeared probably just kicked out of the nest. He became named

as Kiki (Makiki). Kiki would come around while land being cleared gobbling

up black beetles, baby centipedes, grubs, worms, termites. moths, 

grasshoppers, fly larvae ect.   For the past 4-5 years I always thought Kiki 

was a female bird.  Maybe it is a male delusion to want to nurture a female.

lol.  As the trees, grass and weeds were being cleared the bird became

fearless of our presence.  Never tried to catch him or his offspring but could

have on many occasions.  I can rake over dirt today with Kiki perched less

than a foot away on look out for beetles and centipedes.  Kiki comes to the

house and demands to be fed (begging) but I love to make him wait to hear

what he has to say.  Sometimes even when there are 40 bugs running

around on the ground he would rather sit in the tree and just chat for no 

reason and that's okay too.

 I just very recently learned what kind of bird Kiki is, a white rumped shama

male, and came across your website.  Just wondering is this a common

relationship people have with wild White rumped shamas?  Or is the 

feeding, weaning of young, trust worth documenting? 

Thank you for your informative website.

Aloha

David De Souza	9:12 AM (0 minutes ago)
to Eric

Hi Eric,

I found your email of 5 April most interesting.  The white-rumped shama is 

less interactive with humans than its cousin, the magpie robin which is 

commonly found around the gardens of houses.  However, the shama 

can be lured out to the open by human whistles or recorded songs of 

shamas.  Unlike members of the parrot family that move in flocks and are 

referred to as companion birds as they readily bond with humans if 

acquired at the right age, the shama will not bond with humans in the 

same way.  Nevertheless, it is easy to gain their trust by offering food and

not making any attempts to trap them.

In Singapore, where I am, there are hardly any shamas other than those in

cages and aviaries.  Birds that escape are either trapped or eaten by

predators such as cats.

Your experience of having a shama that is at liberty sing to you close by is 

something that I am sure you enjoy and look forward to.  I am sure that 

people interested in the shama will be grateful if you share photos and 

videos of your relationship with the shama.

Best regards,

David