Drumbeat

A shama competition had been scheduled to be held at Kim Keat this Sunday, 29th March, but it has been postponed to 5th April out of respect for Singapore's first prime minister, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew who died recently.

I had been preparing Drumbeat for the competition on 29th March. However, a few days ago, he shed a breast feather.  This could be the first indication that he is going into molt.  If so, his form will start to deteriorate and it will not be feasible to compete him.

In its first year, it is usual for a shama to molt twice.  Once, when it changes its feathers from juvenile to adult and then again before the expiry of 12 months from the date it hatched. Drumbeat is now about 9 months old so his second molt is due.

Apart from that one feather, he did not shed any more in the days thereafter so I have continued to prepare him for competition. If he does not shed any more feathers and his form continues to hold I will enter him for the competition on 5th April. This will likely be his last competition before I transfer him to an aviary to molt.

The video below is of Drumbeat this morning.  He is singing at home without being challenged by other birds.  It will be seen that his inner beak is still not black which would be the case if he is in top form.

Weekend update

Drumbeat in competition

Falcon's 8 months' old son, Drumbeat, was champion at yesterday's Kebun Baru Bird Club shama competition at AMK159, Singapore. Almost 90 shamas competed.  This is about the maximum number of entries for a shama competition in Singapore.

Male shamas come into their prime at about 4 years of age.  This is when they are fully mature and physically and sexually at their peak and able to conquer and defend territory. As a rule therefore, I do not like to compete first molt shamas that are only a few months old, such as Drumbeat. It's like putting a teenager in the boxing ring with a professional adult.

There was a good reason for breaking this rule in Drumbeat's case. I had bred his father, Falcon, for the first time last year when he had produced 6 males.  They all had the structure that I have come to expect from my line of birds.  While there was varying tail length on completion of their first molt, the variance was from 10 3/4" to 13" which is normal. The offspring with the longest first molt tails was Nighthawk.

Being satisfied with Falcon's ability to produce offspring of desirable structure, tail length, soft feathering, display and song, it only remained to assess and confirm the extent of the courage and endurance of his offspring from last year. By assessing his progeny, I would be able to confirm that Falcon is capable of producing offspring of the type produced by Apache, Skyhawk, Pretty Boy and my other shamas, i.e with strong character and display, that can perform exceptionally well in any gathering of shamas. The best way to ascertain this, was to test the courage and endurance of one of Falcon's sons in a competition.  I chose Drumbeat as he had completed his molt and was in form. I already knew that he had courage from his performances in small groups of shamas, such as at Michael's home, but the competition would fully test and confirm the extent of his courage and endurance in a large gathering of shamas.

Drumbeat has a characteristic that is not often found in shamas and which is something that I desire to breed true in my line of birds. Most shamas (naturally) tend to be stressed by unusual new experiences and need time to adjust before they can perform. For example, they tend not to sing and display well the first few times they are transported in a vehicle.

With Drumbeat, though, he seemed to enjoy his outings from a very young age.  On his very first transportation in a car, he was quiet and relaxed during the trip and able to perform immediately at the end of the journey. He reminded me of shamas with super strong characters such as Apache's sons, Cochise, Piston and Funkie, and some other shamas I have known.

Drumbeat's ability to remain unstressed stood him in good stead in the competition yesterday.  I arrived late, just as instructions were being issued for the cage covers to be removed for the start of the competitiion. Consequently, his cage cover had to be removed before he could be given time to recover from the journey. This was undesirable especially as it was Drumbeat's very first competition.  Actually, before this, he had not even been brought to a shama gathering (chai tio) and his training outside the home had comprised mainly of getting him used to people and testing him in small groups of 2 to 4 shamas. There was no need to be concerned. Drumbeat performed immediately the cage cover was removed.

Yesterday's competition was organised in the same manner as most competitions in Singapore nowadays.  There were 3 preliminary rounds of half an hour each and a final round of another 1/2 hour.  Between the preliminary rounds and the final round there was a wait of about 1/2 hour whilst the points were tallied to obtain the average marks of the 3 judges (who had assessed 30 birds each in rotation) in the preliminary rounds.  The top 30 shamas (out of 90) are chosen for the final round which is scored by 2 judges who assess 15 birds each in rotation and the marks are then added and averaged.

Very young shamas, even those with strong character, seldom do well in a competition where there is a final round as they tend to lack the endurance of shamas in their prime.  I was therefore pleased at Drumbeat's performance over the 4 rounds.  He confirmed my faith in him and in Falcon as a producer of outstanding shamas. To maximise the offspring from Falcon, I will be breeding him "polygamously". I hope to write on this topic at some future date.

Sting

Sting is completing his 3rd molt and I transferred him from aviary to cage yesterday.  He has had a very good molt and is already coming into form as can be seen from the video below.

I have not decided if I will breed or compete him this year.

Letter from Indonesia - "Batman" shama

24^th January 2014

Hi David,

Been following your post for quite sometime. Lovely I must say!

My name is Ali and I'm from Singapore but living in Medan, Indonesia. Been keeping songbirds like jambul n puteh since I was a kid but have little experience in Shamas!

I bought 4 shamas here to 'keep me company'! Haha! My problem is one of the shama is in heat or what they call here 'batman'.

I don't breed so what do u think i should do. This particular shama sings as normal but when it comes to chai, it will go down to the cage n bring down its wings. It'll sing but using the soft tone. Have tried many ways as suggested by locals here but none seems to work! Appreciate if you could provide some solution worth trying!!

Thanks!!

It always seems impossible until its done

[Reply 27^th January 2014]

Hi Ali,

My experience is that the cause of shamas doing what you mention is that they have become too tame.  This happens when they are made to "play the hand" to the extent that they start to treat the hand and humans in general as competing shamas with whom they want to fight.

There are some videos on YouTube of shamas being teased with the hand.  You will see that in every case, the bird will either be silent as it aggressively pecks at the hand or it will sing softly.  Such birds are not suitable for competition.  They may sing and display but even this is usually less than other shamas. However, when they see the judge, they descend to the cage floor, spread their wings and prepare for battle.

Once the male shama has reached this level of tameness, it is difficult to cure its attitude.  I would not bother.  However, if you wish to try, you may want to discourage it from treating the hand as an opponent. You can do this, for example, by using the hand to catch the bird every time it attacks the hand.  After a while, the bird will be afraid of the hand and will not treat it as a competing shama. Be aware that doing so will reduce the bird's form and it will need some time to regain it.

Best regards,

David

Preparing for competition

The last video that I uploaded of Skyhawk, (recorded last Wednesday, 3 days after the competition), showed him to be active and singing.  However, he had not yet fully recovered from the competition as you will no doubt note if you compare his performance in this video with the earlier videos on this blog.  You will notice that his voice in the latest video is a little ragged and not as melodious.

It took another 2 days, i.e. until Friday evening, for the voice to fully recover.  By last Saturday, when I had 2 visitors with their shamas, he seemed to have fully recovered.

I expect that Skyhawk will be in good form for the competition this coming Sunday.  I have no reason to think that he will not do well though I must qualify that I am still a newbie in competitions and lack the experience to be able to accurately assess the readiness of a bird for competition.

For the forthcoming competition, I am caring for Skyhawk in the usual way - dry food during the day with live food only in the evening.  His cage in the home is also where it has been for several weeks, i.e as far away from the other singing shamas as possible. Too often, we change the food or the bird's environment to the bird's detriment in the 1 to 2 weeks before a competition, in the expectation that "better" food and more care will improve the bird's performance. I think that it is more important to have consistency and this is what I am trying out.

No matter how Skyhawk performs this coming Sunday, I would wish to enter him for another competition soon after that, say sometime in late January or early February, next year.  This would give me the opportunity to test his consistency if he does well in the competition or to try to remedy any perceived deficiencies if he does not do well.  Unfortunately, as at today, I understand that no shama competition is scheduled for January or early February next year.  This leaves me with the perennial problem of whether to breed Skyhawk after Sunday's competition or to continue to keep him for another competition, the date of which is uncertain.

Apart from Skyhawk, I would like to compete Jazz and Goose during the first half of next year. Jazz has just completed his third molt and will need at least another month or so for his form to rise suficiently, so he will not be in time for the competition this Sunday.  I expect that he can be competed from mid-February next year.  There is much to do in the meantime as I need to get him used to vehicle travel and the presence of people and shamas.

I began Jazz's training yesterday.  I transferred him from the aviary to the cage and took him for a drive to Michael's home.  As I do not have a van or station-wagon his cage could not be placed upright in the vehicle.  Instead, it must be placed length wise so the cage lies on its side on the rear seat of the car.  This is always more stressful for the bird than if the cage is upright but Jazz showed no visible signs of stress from the journey.

Goose is presently undergoing his 3rd molt and the new tails are about 3".  He is a direct son of Ballet Dancer with a young female. He is molting well and should complete his molt by the end of February next year.  His training can only begin after his molt is completed. I hope to be able to train him and have him ready for competition from mid-April next year but the training may need to take longer as he is a bit wild and will need more training than Jazz.

BTW, I am looking for a male lovebird with a longish song so that my shamas can learn its song.  If anyone has a lovebird that sings for at least 1/2 minute and would be prepared to sell it, please let me know.  Presently, some of my shamas have learnt the Samyong song and also a very melodious song of a pied shama that I acquired about 6 months ago.  I would like them to also learn the chittering song of the lovebird which can be very nice when sung by the shama.

Captive-bred shamas in competition

Skyhawk was 2^nd (out of about 60 shamas) in the Kebun Bahru Bird Singing Club Shama Competition yesterday.

The competition was supposed to start at 9.00 am but it only began at about 9.40 am with the birds singing in their covered cages during this time. There was then 3 half-hour rounds, at the end of which 30 birds were selected for the final round which took place over 40 minutes. 

Skyhawk’s entry in the competition was the result of a decision that Michael and I made recently that we should try to compete our birds more.  This is necessary to dispel the myth that long-tailed, captive-bred, shamas cannot compete on equal terms with short-tailed shamas in a competition lasting 2 hours or more.  The general belief is that the long-tailed birds will tire more quickly since they have to wave their longer and heavier tails and this adversely affects not only their ability to display, but also their song.

In the past, Michael and I have seldom entered out shamas in competition. In a choice between mating or competing them, we have invariably chosen to breed them so that we can see the quality of their progeny.  

An example is Skyhawk who has hardly been competed.  I have no regrets as I have obtained some outstanding offspring from him.  These include Falcon who embodies practically all that I want in a male shama.  He is more beautiful and more aggressive than his father and he will probably make a great competitor. Unfortunately, I will not be able to compete him anytime soon as he has been mated and the female is presently sitting on eggs.

It must be conceded that a long-tailed shama (with tails of 13” or more) can be expected to tire more quickly than a shama with shorter tails as it takes much more effort to lift the long tails.  Nevertheless, I have reason to believe that this disadvantage can be overcome with selective breeding, nutrition, care and training.  I would like to consider these briefly below.

Selective breeding

Breeders who wish to breed quality shamas should try to breed birds that excel in all departments and they should not confine themselves to just producing long tails.  The first thing to note is that to enable the shama to carry its long tails with ease, the bird should preferably not be too small although I have seen some smaller sized long-tailed shamas that were able to perform magnificently in competition over extended periods. 

A bird that embodies the size that I try to breed in my birds is Falcon.  He is slightly larger than his father.  There is a photo of him elsewhere in this blog.  This larger size (with little fat) should provide room for more muscle to more effectively leverage the longer and heavier tails.

While size is important, it is even more critical that the bird must have a strong character.  This is a characteristic that can also be bred into the birds.  I read in a book on breeding gamecocks that it should be assumed that all characteristics are reproducible.  A strong never-say-die competitor will be able to overcome all odds as his will to compete will cause him to not give up and he will strive to perform at his best even when he is exhausted.  The consistent production of such birds is something that I try to achieve in my breeding program.

Nutrition

A shama intended for competition is an athlete.  As such, it should be fed a diet that will enable it to perform at its best and to have sufficient energy for the duration of the competition.  The diet should not be such as to make the bird fat. I have found that a combination of live insects and a commercially available dry food is best.  Any of the popular dry foods that have been in the market for some time should be suitable. The important thing is to ensure that the bird likes the food and eats well.

Suitable home environment

A suitable home environment for the competing shama is one in which it is isolated and as far away from other singing shamas as possible.  I am told that rich shama owners in Indonesia even go to the trouble and expense of housing their top competition shama in a home in which it is the only shama.  “Jockeys” are hired to look after and to train the birds.  The birds are trained by being surround with other species of songbirds known as “masters”.

For me, it is impossible to have such an environment for my birds as I have about 20 male shamas in my home and some of them are paired and with young.   I therefore need to make do when preparing my bird for competition.  I also cannot use the garden to train the competition bird as this will disturb the breeding birds.  There is also the difficulty of training him away from the home because of the problem of transporting the cage, which may be as large as 30”.

Transportation

The competition bird will need to be transported from its home to the competition grounds, probably by vehicle.  It should therefore get used to such transportation.  A sign that the bird is stressed by the transportation is that it will have its beak open when the cage cloth is removed and one of the first things it will do is to drink water.

Familiarity with people

I was astonished to see advice given some time back by a local distributer of supplements for birds, that a competition shama should be afraid of people but not of birds. This seemed bonkers to me.  If the shama is afraid of people, it will hardly be able to perform at its best as there are always crowds at a competition.  Even removing the cloth cover from the cage will cause the bird to panic. Also, the judges will be moving around the arena and if the bird is not used to people, it will tend to stop singing or to sing less as the judge approaches. 

I believe that a bird intended for competition should be used to its cage being handled and be familiar with the movement of people around it.  As part of it’s training, the caged bird should be placed from time to time in an area where people pass by.

Training for bird gatherings

The bird that is intended for competition should be used to the close presence of strange shamas. Start with small gatherings and gradually work up to the large gatherings at a chai tio such as at Block 159, Ang Mo Kio, on Sunday mornings where there may be 40 to 50 shamas.

Ability to recover quickly after a competition and consistency

It is undesirable to have a shama that takes a long time to recover after a competition or that is so stressed out by a competition that it goes into moult.  Such a bird lacks courage. What we should be looking for is a bird that has the ability to quickly recover after a competition and that looks forward to competing.  The ability to do so is the result of a combination of genes, nutrition and care.

I will be able to test Skyhawk’s competitiveness, consistency and ability to recover quickly from a competition in 2 weeks as I will enter him in the competition to be held in 2 weeks time (Sunday 29 December).

Birds for future competitions

For next year and longer, Michael and I have picked out a number of young birds that we are tentatively setting aside for competition. The idea is to compete them first and only pair them at a much later date. These birds include Goose, Jazz and some of the offspring from this year.  Amongst this year's promising males are the offspring of Alpha and Killer that Michael is breeding.

We have tested the eldest chick from this couple on several occasions on Sunday morning at Block 159, Ang Mo Kio.  At 5 months of age, he showed no hesitation in singing his primary song and displaying for extended periods in close proximity to the adult birds. He is totally unafraid and if he continues like this, he should be ready for competition after March next year.

I end with a recent photo of Will's male offspring which look promising.

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. 

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.

Apache

I entered Apache as a late entry in the shama song competition held at Block 159, AMK, yesterday.  There were about 70 contestants and he came in 6th.  I expect his form will improve and be much better in the next competition that may held in 1 or 2 months.

I  found out yesterday that there will be a shama song competition at Block 159 Ang Mo Kio, Singapore, this coming Sunday, 29th May 2011. I had not expected the competition to be held and I am completely unprepared for it.  All my birds are nesting or molting.

The only shama I have that might be able to compete is Apache.  He has barely completed his molt and will usually take a month thereafter to come into good form.  However, he is a seasoned bird in the prime of his life and I may be able to get him into sufficiently good form in the 6 remaining days.  I do not, as yet, have a ticket and will try to get one on the morning of the competition.

BTW Ah Choon's 13" shama recently won its third competition in Penang, Malaysia.

Bishan Night Competition-23rd April 2011

Piston (No. 43) was 5th in the Bishan Night Competition held on 23rd April 2011.  There were about 95 birds competing.

He was the only shama that I had available for the competition. I had originally wanted to also keep Sky Hawk and Pretty Boy for competitions but as so often happens, I did not want to wait indefinitely for a competition and decided to breed them instead.  Both have had chicks or eggs about to hatch. It is unlikely that they will be available for competition soon.

However, Jeffrey's Funkie is with me.  He is just completing his molt and if the next competition is not too far away, I will compete him. Otherwise, I will be tempted to see what chicks he can produce.

There will be a shama song competition on Saturday 23 April 2011.  It will be held at Bishan, Singapore and it will be at night - starting at about 8.00 pm.

I had intended to keep Sky Hawk and Pretty Boy for competitions this year but I decided not to because there were no scheduled dates for forthcoming competitions.  They have been entered into the breeding program and will not be available for competition anytime soon.

Apache is half-way through his annual molt.  There is Jeffrey's Funkie which is now with me and I intend to compete him eventually.  He has only just completed his molt and will require some time to come into form. He will be ready for competition in about 1 1/2 months time.

This leaves only Piston available for the 23rd. His present form is not too bad and I hope it can still improve substantially in the remaining 9 days.  I have not been able to hang his cage in my garden as part of his training as his singing disturbs the breeding pairs in their aviaries.  There is also a problem with his preparation in the home as his form is adversely affected if he hears the chicks in their cages.

Anyway, Piston has a very steady character and requires little preparation to come into form so I have hope that he will do reasonably well in the coming night competition.

Prior to the shama song competition held at AMK, Block 159, on 13th January 2011, Apache had already shown signs of having his annual molt with the loss of some small feathers on the head and breast.  Nevertheless, he is a top competitor and he performed well in the competition, coming in joint first with Sky Hawk.

Within a week of the competition, Apache dropped his 2 longest tails.  They both shed on the same day.  The rest of his tails dropped in the next few days.  I am happy when I see a rapid shedding of feathers as this confirms that the bird is in in good condition and ready for the molt.

Apache is molting well and his primary tails are now about 4".  The molt will complete in about 2 months and another month or two will be needed for him to regain top form.  He is therefore out of competitions for the next 3 months.

I had intended to keep Apache, Sky Hawk, Pretty Boy and Piston for shama song competitions.  With Apache having his molt, I still had 3 potential competitors immediately available for competitions.  However, there was no scheduled date for the next competition and it seemed such a waste to keep my top birds idle.   I therefore paired Pretty Boy and the pair should have little Pretty Boys by the end of this week. I also recently paired Sky Hawk and the female laid first egg of the clutch this morning.

Apart from the above birds, I have 2 other male shamas that I would like to compete.  One is a second-generation captive bred that belongs to Michael.  The other is Jeffrey's Funkie.  Both are now boarding in my home and having their annual molt. They will be available for competition in 2 to 3 months.

I was informed over the weekend that a night competition will be held at Bishan towards the end of April.  I do not particularly like night competitions as I don't generally take my birds to night gatherings.  I might enter Piston to see how he performs.

Shama Singing Competition Held On 13th February 2011

Yesterday (Sunday), the Kebun Baru Bird Singing Club of Singapore held its first Shama Singing Competition of 2011.  The venue was Block 159 Ang Mo Kio.

Michael Leong and I entered 3 of our captive-breds.  They were Apache, Sky Hawk and a young male that would benefit from some competition experience.

I had not been keen on entering Apache and Sky Hawk.  Apache had been singing less and less at home. I guessed that he was going to have his annual molt soon and I was not sure that he would be able to perform on a decent level.

As regards Sky Hawk, in December 2010, we had paired him with a female in the hope of getting chicks before the female entered her annual molt.  She had built a nest but then she had molted and we separated the pair.  I intended to pair him with another female but the competition came up and Michael suggested that we enter him and Apache although the birds were not in their best form.

Shama singing competitions in Singapore used to be held over 4 rounds of 1/2 an hour each.  This was too tiring for the birds and they did not display and sing their best in the 4th round.

Nowadays, shama competitions are usually held  over 3 rounds of ½ an hour each.  Three judges assess, in rotation, 1/3 of the birds in each round.  The average marks decide the winners and the losers.

Yesterday's competition was supposed to be over 3 rounds. However, at the end of the 3^rd round, the contestants were informed that there would be an additional final round.  It would be in 2 parts of 15-20 minutes each.  There would be 2 judges and they would take turns to assess about ½ of the birds in each part.  The marks would then be added.

The Final Round

Having a final round is generally popular as the number of birds will be reduced by 2/3 and it will be easier to see which birds are performing.  The disadvantage is that the shamas will be really tired and will not be performing at their best.  Consequently, only those birds that are in good form and have the required stamina will be able to still perform in the final round.

Yesterday’s competition was scheduled to start at 9.00am and last for 1 1/2 hours.  As is often the case, the competition started ½ an hour late.  By then,  the birds that came in time for the competition, such as our 3 birds, had already been singing in their cages with cloth covers, for 1/2 an hour or more.  Similarly, after the 3rd round, time was required to tally the marks to decide the birds that would qualify for the final round.  In total, the birds would be singing in close proximity to each other for 3 hours or more.

The top 25 birds out of the 70 or so contestants qualified for the final round.  All our 3 birds qualified.  Sky Hawk's final round competition number was 8 and Apache was 14.  The young male was No. 6.  This was a front row position close to the crowds, as our intention was to use the competition to provide training for him.

Results of the Final Round

Apache and Sky Hawk were the top birds after the final round with marks of 49.8 points each.  They had received  identical marks in both parts of the final round.

The organizers decided that lots should be drawn to decide the positions in those cases where the marks were tied.   As Michael and I do not distinguish between the birds we own, we dispensed with the drawing of lots.  Logically, Apache and Sky Hawk should be deemed to be joint champions since they had identical marks in both parts of the final round.

The 3^rd and 4^th placed birds had the same 49.5 points each and their places were decided by drawing lots. I think 2 other pairs also tied for lesser positions and they drew lots.

The young male that Michael and I had entered for experience, placed 12^th.  I am sure he would have done better if he had not been unsettled by the crowd.

Captive-bred Shamas Are Winning Song Competitions

Contrary to the loud declarations of some people that captive-bred birds are inferior to wild-caughts, the captive-breds have been doing quite well in competitions since my birds started to seriously compete from November last year.

Apache was 6^th in the 21^st November 2010 competition, 3^rd one week later in the 28^th November 2010 competition (when his son Helmet was 6th) and joint champion yesterday.  He has improved as he has got used to competition conditions.  His continuous progress confirms that he not only has the qualities of a top competitor but also, and just as important, that the methods that we used in preparing our birds for competition are along the right lines.

Sky Hawk was champion when Michael entered him in the Cyber Shama Competition organized by Dance4Rain in the Malaysian Bird Forum some time ago.  Any concern that he might not be able to compete in an actual competition with the crush of other shamas around him, was laid to rest by his performance yesterday.

One further bit of news - I was told yesterday that Ah Choon’s shama with 13+” tails (that I bred), was champion in the shama singing competition in Penang about 2 weeks ago.  This is his second win in Penang. The first time he had won in Penang was in early November 2010 as I reported in my post on 22^nd November 2010.

What This Proves

There is a lot of b/s in the bird forums from some people who hold themselves out as knowledgeable about shamas and freely give advice on their care and breeding.  Some of the opinions and advice is really rubbish.  Amongst the rubbish is that captive-bred birds cannot compete successfully against wild-caughts. Another, is the simplistic observation that line-breeding or inbreeding will result in inferior birds.

One of these experts recently also advised in the Malaysian Shama Forum that shamas bred in small aviaries lack character. G-- knows on what he based his declaration.  Perhaps it was his own limited experience with the captive breeding of his own birds.

The claim of these so-called experts that captive-breds are lacking in character, song and stamina is clearly not true as proven by the fact that birds bred by Michael and me are doing well in song contests. Its all a matter of proper selective breeding for structure, courage and stamina and bringing up the birds with the right food and in the right environment.  Having small aviaries close together and many shamas in the home is a disadvantage when breeding the birds and preparing them for competition but this can be overcome with care and planning.

The captive-breds with long tails showed yesterday that even when there is the stress of a final round, they can still do well.  In fact, Apache (with 12” tails) was probably displaying better than the other birds in the final round. Sky Hawk’s tails well exceed 13”. 

I should note that shamas with long tails compete at an inherent disadvantage against those with shorter tails, regardless of whether such birds are wild-caught or captive-bred. Whipping long tails up and down takes much effort and energy but no marks are officially given for the beauty of long tails.  Where the competition takes a long time, such as where there is a final round, the long-tailed birds are at an even greater disadvantage and they need to be especially prepared so that they are fit enough to last the distance.

I have always felt that captive breds need not be at all inferior to the wild caughts.  Actually, I always felt that with proper selective breeding, care and training, the captive breds can far exceed the wild-caughts in every department, including song, structure, beauty, length of tails, stamina and courage.  This is now proving to be the case.

Future competitions

Michael and me entered our captive breds in the last 3 competitions to test their character, song and stamina in competition conditions and also to see if our preparations for the competition are correct.  The fact that our birds did well is encouraging.

As suspected, Apache is starting to molt and he will be transferred to an outdoor aviary.  He should be ready for competition around August this year if we do not breed him.  We may be tempted to do so, though, as his offspring have good song and exceptional courage. We have not decided if we will breed Sky Hawk or still enter him for future competitions.

We have other birds that we could try out for competition.  Amongst them is my favourite shama, Pretty Boy, who completed his annual molt recently.  His primary tails are about 15".  We would also like to give our other shamas a chance at competition, including 2 of Apache's other sons.
  

However, we have not made up our minds to compete on a regular basis.  The breeding season has started and, as always, our desire to breed better birds may override our wish to test our birds in competitions.

Shama Competitions(2)

The Cheng San Bird Singing Club held a shama competition yesterday morning.  I entered 2 birds for the competition – Apache (Competition No. 15) and his son, Helmet (Competition No. 26).

Shama singing competitions in Singapore are held infrequently; about once every 1 to 2 months.  A week ago, Kebun Bahru held its shama competition when Apache placed 6^th.   The Cheng San competition, held so shortly after, did not provide much time to improve his form.

I nevertheless did what I could to prepare Apache.  His form kept improving during the week and he was singing well by yesterday. 

Apache sang much better in yesterday’s competition than he had a week ago.  His songs were frequent, varied and forceful.  However, he did not display during the competition.  The marks for display form only a small part of the total marks in shama competitions in Singapore, with the emphasis being on song.  Nevertheless, it is necessary to take some points for display as the difference in being or not being champion can vary by less than a ½ point.

Apache came in third in yesterday's competition.  His total marks were 53.4.  The 1^st and 2^nd birds tied at 53.8 points with the top position being decided by the marks of the last round.

Helmet placed 6th in yesterday's competition.  It was his first competition.  In fact, he has hardly ever been brought out of my home.  He had been entered in the competition just to provide practice as his form was not good enough for a top prize. I was happy with his showing since I had only taken him from the garden aviary a week ago.  His form had rapidly improved during the week.  He had displayed and sang during the competition and a 6^th placing showed a promise of things to come if I wished to seriously enter him for competition in the future.

Shama Competitions

Two weeks ago, a shama bred by me won 1^st prize at the Penang shama competition.  This shama has tails exceeding 13”.  It is owned by Ah Choon.  I am told that it performed very well throughout the competition.  Birds like this help to establish that captive-bred shamas with long tails can compete on more than equal terms with wild-caughts.

After many years of being away from the shama competition scene in Singapore, I entered Apache for the Kebun Bahru competition yesterday morning. I had had no time to train him for the competition but he was singing well at home. 

Shama competitions in Singapore are mostly held nowadays over 3 to 4 rounds.  Yesterday’s competition was over 3 rounds.  Where the competition is over 3 rounds, there will be 3 judges who take turns to judge about 1/3^rd of the birds in each round.  The average of the marks awarded by the judges, decides the placings.

Five minutes before the 1^st round commenced, Apache began dry-bathing, preening his wings, tails and body feathers as he would when taking a bath.  This is an indication that the bird has no form or it has not been well prepared for the competition.  After a few minutes, he settled and began singing.  I didn’t think there was anything special about his performance but it was good enough for him to take 2^nd place in his section, losing to the top bird in his section by only 0.1 points.

I had breakfast with friends during the 2^nd round and did not see Apache’s performance.  His marks were not good.  He lost to the top bird in his section by 2 points.  This is a lot since the top birds can be separated by only 0.xx points.

In the 3^rd round, Apache was much better than he had been in the first round.  While he still did not “play” the cage, he was alert, dominating, and consistent in his song.  I expected him to receive top marks in his section and he did.  The final result was a 6^th placing.

I guess Apache’s poor showing was due to his lack of training.  There will be another competition this coming weekend and I will probably enter him.  One week is too short a time to train him and I will just take the coming competition as part of his training and use it to prepare him for competitions next year.