An Adventure With Local Doves (7)

Local Zebra Dove in a "jebak" being trained as a "pikat".



Potential Spotted Dove for competition?

An Adventure With Local Doves (6)

Many learnings later, from the counting of scales on the feet of Merboks to many traps for wild Merboks, I am beginning to see why it has fascinated a portion of songbird hobbyists.
Bought myself some equipment which i intend to try out on my Merboks.
A better made jebak:




With additional hook:


With an extension to reach higher places:

Trapping Merboks

Have been hearing many stories regarding the trappings of Merboks (Zebra Doves) from trappers. It appears these birds are not as easy as it seems. Especially when one is selective of the voice that he is looking for and the intelligence of these birds then becomes apparent.
It is not uncommon for a trapper to pursue a particular bird for more than a year at a time (with little or no success to show).
Trained my pikat at Bkt Serindit today together with a few guys who has been pursuing a particular bird for months. No success again today, but the persistance of these trappers are admirable ;)

New C Merbok

New addition to the family. Yet to be named. Will compete him in the next comp for the fun factor and to know where he stands.


Also acquired a C female Merbok yesterday, thought of crossing her with a local Merbok to get a mix pikat hehehe! or maybe a B male just for the fun of breeding ;)

An Adventure With Local Doves (5)

Spotted a wild Spotted Dove. One "guk" bird. Louder voice is my pikat. Softer voice is the Tekukur on the roof. Nothing happened - just singing only. I made it a point not to own any "racik".

Zeus (4)

Today (15th Oct), Zeus's cage fell down and a few sticks was broken. Luckily Zeus did not injure himself. My mistake - I didn't see that the cage is hooked properly. Note to self - don't be too confident ;)

A video of Zeus with Apollo 9's voice in the background. Need to compete Zeus in K.L. to see how he performs.

An Adventure With Local Doves (4)

Venue: Masjid Tanah
Date: 11th Oct 2008
Birds: Merbok & Tekukur

Nice outing for a Raya visit cum bird training session ;)

A pair of wild Merboks came near but did not step on the "jebak".
Was there with Chong & Freddie.

Took back one C Merbok. Suppose to be top 20 bird. Hope can pakai hehehe!

Video my my Tekukur taken a couple of days earlier:

Zeus (3)

Zeus today performed beyond expectation at the competition in Bt Pahat. Now, why would I say that its beyond expectation? I actually was hoping for some consolation prizes for the effort but from round one, words was abuzz about the no. 30 Shama (Zeus) hehehe!

This was what was reported to me by a friend:
1) One of the judges was mumbling something about no.30
2) Someone said that no.30 is from Muar
3) Various other comments

That was when we realised Zeus has become a favourite to win on that day. My friend Hock told me top 5 sure got one hahaha!
So it was a pleasant surprised.

Back to the question - why do I think that Zeus is not up to mark? Maybe because of the way he behaved at the "chai" area in Melaka. Or maybe he does not have the quality I would like a top Shama to have. He was an average Shama to me.

However on the competition day, I would think that he turned the tables due to his enthusiasm. Displaying and singing like a Shama on steroid for the 1st round at least. That is where he clinched his advantage with a leading 0.5 points above the closest Shama. He toned down on round 3 and 4, but sufficient to match other top birds. I was not there on round 2 because we went out to have breakfast. I think that was how he managed to win against other "better" birds.

It also helps that the cloth cover was removed at the last minute as I am aware that Zeus always does his best in the first half hour or so. If the cloth was removed too early, he may have run out of steam before the judge move to his cage.

This is him on the first round. Difficult to video him as he was quite inside the ring and blocked by other cages.


What was established on that day:
1) Timing is important
2) You do not need a beautiful cage to win (mine was a cheap 2nd hand RM60 cage hehe!)
3) At least judges, judged birds on their own merits for the day - I am an unknown player but still can get top prize ;)
4) An element of luck - the slight breeze blowing that day makes Zeus's tail appears to be flicked higher than normal ;)
5) Be Prepared: Zeus was fed 6 crickets in the morning for extra energy. 2 of which was enriched by being injected with multivitamins

Batu Pahat Competition

It has been an eventful day - bird related that is.
Of the 7 persons who may be going to Bt. Pahat from Melaka, only 3 of us made it. I brought along a Shama, Mata Puteh and Jambul whereas my friend Hock just brought one Shama and his friend Tan. We had a light breakfast first near Tan's place before beginning our journey around 7.30am. It doesn't help that my son woke up at 4.30am and kept me up whole morning. But it did give me more time to plan and prepare the birds though.

The Mata Puteh section (22 contestants):


The Magpie Robin section (39 contestants):


The Merbah Jambul section (29 contestants):


The White-rumped Shama section (42 contestants):


My Merbah Jambul did not win any prize but got some good comments. Need to "chai" more often. But where in Melaka got people keep Jambul? Only a handful that I know of.

Same case with my Mata Puteh, seen busy preening himself. Only really sing when we were about to go home hahahaha! Next time he is staying home.

My White-rumped Shama named Zeus was a different story though. I never expect him to clinch the no. 1 position but he just did. Must tell the story of Zeus in a different post ;)

Zeus's result (bird no. 30):

An Adventure with Local Doves (3)

This morning was a bit disappointing for my Tekukur Pikat. Brought him out to the Merbok field but he refused to sing. Aiya! at hime so fierce ;)
Anyway to compensate for the day, 2 things happen.
First my Merbok Pikat (Lets call him Si Gelang Biru) sang inside his jebak for the first time. Sang quite long. Below is a pic of him hang up for training:


Then this fella (Tekukur - Spotted Dove) that was taken from a friend's aviary decided to sing as well:

An Adventure with Local Doves (2)

The below is a video of my new pet dove. Tekukur in Malay language. Took back yesterday from a friend and reach home at night. So, he probably sleep well as already singing softly in the morning. Will try to take a video of his loud song when he "tekan". A little droopy left wing due to an old injury probably. He will provide lots of fun on field outings I presume ;)


Besides him, another Tekukur was also given, forcefully, I might add hahahaha! Anyway, I will wait for him to sing before training him to sing in the "jebak" below. Side by side, a comparison in size of a Merbok's jebak with a Tekukur's.

An Adventure with Local Doves

Ok! how to start this?......
hmmmm! a friend dropped by on 29th Sept and pass me the following:
1 Thai Merbok, 2 Local Merbok, 1 Jebak

Local Merboks are supposed to be trained as a "pikat" to lure wild birds to the trap.
Candidate no.1 :


Candidate no.1 :


The Trap (Jebak):


However unfortunately, one of the pikat was attacked by a cat while I was away today.
No critical injuries. Feathers on the head ruffled up a bit and some blood stain was seen. Hope he is alright. Transfered him to a normal cage.

Today he gave me another 2 Terkukur and a Jebak. Scratching my head how to house all of them. Will see how the Terkukur sing in my house tomorrow.