Padang Merbok

Was a bit busy today but a friend called and suggested we meet at the place where they hang Merboks for competition and training. As I was the one who ask him to get me some thick perches, varnished and dried, I had to make time. I arrived quite late about 12 noon and decided to bring along a Merbok (Zebra Dove) and a Tekukur (Spotted Dove) since I am going there. Have decided to stay away from Zebra Doves as I see it as a sport for those with deep pockets ;D
A case of sour grapes? hahahaha!

As I was hoisting my Merbok up the pole, he started singing. It was windy and my dirt cheap RM14 cage was tilted at a 45 degree angle, yet he was cooing his notes. A "C" bird with a .8 sound at best, so not really for serious competition. What amuse me was that its a long time since I bring him out and equally long time since he was put into a small cage. Hmmm not bad on the "rajin" side. Deserves some TLC when we get back ;)
Oh!..... and there were moments when the whole field is quiet except for his cooing sound as it was windy and most cages was swaying to and fro. My friend asked me what steroid I fed the bird :D

Merbok in a RM14 cage:



Incidently, I have a habit of using the cheapest type of cage I can lay my hands on. Last Sunday, my Shama has to compete in a RM50 cage with the bottom held up with wires - otherwise the warped bottom is unsightly.

The perches that I collected (for my 2 Hwamei):



A video of the dove at home:

Breeding the Zebra Dove

A baby hatched on Merdeka Day (31st Aug 2009). This is an auspicious occassion. However only 1 hatched out of 2 eggs laid. Considered "anak tunggal" ? Like this I have a lot of "anak tunggal" to bring up hahaha!



This is a good sign as the doves managed to breed against all odds. Firstly, the location of the aviary is not suitable, cars are parked directly in front of the aviary. At night it can be disturbing to the birds and during day time it can be intimidating. Further aggravating the problem would be the frequent visits by the neighbourhood stray cats, 2 large intimidating dogs wandering freely at night and the low location of the nest which makes the baby and incubating parent "very exposed".

Herbs for the Zebra Doves

Last Sunday, I acquired a pair of "black" Merboks from the competition ground, the variety that is darker in colour and have stripes across their chest. Actually was just looking at them and enquired about their prices. No deal was made.

On my way home, the seller manage to call me. He got my number from some friends who were still there. Deal was clinched over the phone and a good friend paid on my behalf and took the birds home. To cut a story short, on the second day, I noticed one of them is extremely tame, feather fluffy and inactive. I contacted a friend who operates a bird shop (come to think of it, I regard all bird shop keepers as friends hehehe!) and he so kindly showed me what herbs to give the sick bird. I do not know of any other name for the herbs, but in Chinese it is called "Chuan Xing Nian" or something like that (hey! I don't learn Hanyu Pinyin in school)

The below is a sample which I have planted at home:


According to the shop keeper, this herbs work wonders. He is very sure I would get a good response the very next day. He told me to feed 2 or 3 leaves. However, I fed only 1 leave (as its too big - 1 can make into 2 mung beans size pellet). I do think it is effective as the bird seems to look better the following day and I gave him another dose. On the 3rd and 4th day, I supplemented with a dose of commercially prepared herbs from Indonesia (brand: Larasati) for good measure.

Glad to report that the bird seems to be recovering well. The bird is fully covered for the whole treatment duration as it is quite windy these few days.

The other "black merbok" sprang a surprise yesterday. I normally put a merbok in a "jebak" trap so that I can thoroughly clean its cage. When I placed this new bird into a jebak, he hungrily ate the canary seeds inside and started singing (if you can call the doves' call a song hahaha!).

Not bad, first day in a jebak and he sings. Could be my future super "pikat". ;)

HERBS FOR THE OWNER

Well, since I am learning about herbal remedies for birds, I might as well expand my scope to cover myself. I am trying out the plant below. Don't know its name. Its a thorny plant with broad leaves. The leaves are plucked and dried in the sun. I drink it like Chinese Tea. It makes a nice tasting bitter tea. Suppose to improve vitality, detox and helps as a catalyst when combined with certain herbs. I mix it with some herbs I bought from traditional medicine shops (harvested from wild plants that grows in high altitude areas like Cameron Highland).
So far, am enjoying the tea. Whether it makes any health difference is another matter hehehe! Considered a bonus if it improves health and vitality ;)

Below is sapling of the plant. It could grow into a tall bush when allowed:

Baby Merbok (2)

Taken with a basic camera phone, the visual does not turn out very clear. Anyway, on the left is the baby merbok (fostered by Tekukur Jawa - Ringneck Dove) and on the right is a baby Tekukur Jawa. Just note the difference in size. The parents doesn't seem to mind ;)

Pikat Merbok 3 in 1

Borrowed a "pikat" from a friend. This bird has been loaned from friend to friend. Last I heard a young kampung chap was riding a motorbike with this fella perched on the handle bar going around catching wild merboks. That is how tame this little fella
is. When reached home, have to make a quick improvised little perch to put him on. And he stays on the perch for hours......

He is fondly called a 3 in 1 pikat because, reputedly he is good with various method of catching merboks. Placed in "jebak" (traditional trap), "jebak tonggok" (open air trap) and on ground (much like the way people catch Tekukur). Now must find time to test him out only ;)

Baby Merbok

Came back from work and found a hatchling of the Zebra Dove (Merbok) in the incubator. So, now I can consider myself a Merbok breeder? hahahaha! This is a long story. The parents of the baby merbok actually belongs to a friend. He passed me the pair plus 2 unhatched eggs and a few weeks old baby with weak legs. I had no choice but to try incubating the eggs.



After a successful hatching of the first egg, I panicked as the baby is just too small and did not want to co-operate by opening its beak to be fed. After a few phone calls, then decided to try contacting a breeder of Tekukurs to try to find some Tekukur Jawa as foster parents.

Finally managed to arrange for fostering with a pair of Tekukur Jawa which belongs to Pakcik Awie. Transported the baby to his place by 10p.m. After placing the baby with another unhatched egg for the Tekukur Jawa to take care, sat down with Pakcik Awie and chit chat over a glass of tea. Saw a nice cage made by his friend and bought it. Would be good for training Merbok pikat for ground use (pacak tanah). Thats me "pantang" got new "toy" hehehe! Made arrangement to borrow his Tekukur pikat with a broken wing. Reputed to be worth RM1k before the wing got broken due to an accident.

Not to mention an hour in the morning putting up hooks for Mata Putehs at the padang, trimming some of the branches and "roti canai" breakfast with Mr Wee. One of those hectic hobby related days ;)

Local Merbok

The price of a bird is determined by a few factors, a rare species very often fetches a higher price than a common bird. However it is not always the case. A curious species to look at is the Merbok or Zebra Dove (a.k.a. Peaceful Dove), they are every where in South East Asia, a common bird found in the city, rural areas and even jungles.

These birds especially those that have been captive bred for their voice could fetch many thousands of Ringgit if certain criteria are met. The reasons must lie in the competitive nature of humans. And since everybody likes to win, the chase for a top competition bird naturally hikes up the price.

Often, the Merbok's wild cousin are overlooked just because their voice do not meet competition criteria (which is set by man anyway). After living with a wild local Merbok for a few months, I have grown fond of its voice. The natural wild call of the Doves - and it does varies from bird to bird but always distinctively "wild" song. The below can be considered a 2 step, with "angkatan" but no "kong" if I were to adopt competitive standards on him ;)

Development of SR

SR has become more hardworking at home. Am happy with his development. However still a bit shy at the Merbok field (only 2nd day, so can't blame him). Hope one day Suara Rakyat would "tekan" so that his voice would reveberate in the field hehehe! wishful thinking ;)

Chai Merbok

Today is the first time I go and "chai" merbok.
7 month old merbok that I obtained from Yusuf, a friend. B class.
Hang him at half pole and at the fringe of the field as advised by some old timers there. Tan, a fellow hobbyist said that he heard the merbok called once and was impressed. If it could maintain its voice, then I probably could compete him later on. As for me, I didn't actually hear him because I was busy chit chatting, observing other people's merboks and went off for breakfast. Was there about 10am and went back by 12.30pm.

Well, the purpose wasn't that actually (competing merboks), just want to blend in with their crowd...... then the Shamas could make a smoother transition to the adjoining field hehehe! Never good to isolate ourselves. We must move with the bigger crowd ;)

However something seems to be wrong with my camera phone. Pictures all turn out very dark. Must have been all the mishandling it is receiving. Have to brighten it with with some software.

This is my new pet - circled in red:


Scene at the other end of the field:

New Chai Place in Melaka

Manage to get 5 Shamas together to try out the Merbok field in Bukit Serindit.
Quite a nice place with plenty of trees to hang. So far no complaints yet. Have to get to know and speak to the Merbok president next week.



Besides the Shamas, also in attendance are 2 mata Putehs and 2 Terkukur (pikat).



I did take delivery of a competition Merbok yesterday night. Did not bring him out today. Waiting for him to get used to my place first before training him. Then there will be a lot of activities to take part in hehehe!

Ceh! after reviewing my post, I realised that the picture did not turn out well - too small. So below is a blow up of where we hang the Shamas.



The Mata Putehs:


Update:
Just got a great idea from a friend (Mr. John Yim) on how to jump start the Shama "chai" event.
This goes back to the 60's when Shama competition as we know it today was non existent.
Fellow hobbyists would be hanging out at the local coffee shop for a cuppa and of course hobbyists being hobbyists would inevitably get into a discussion about who has the better Shama. They would debate and eventually vote the winner who then get treated with "kaya" toast, half boiled egg and "kopi-o" or whatever they fancy. All debate and judgements are done with the utmost honesty and sincerity (sad to say we are losing these virtues nowadays).

So, this is what I will be brain storming with a few fellas over here to see how we could carry this out. What better place to do it than in Melaka that is well known for its historical legacy.

Draft:

1) Set a date - maybe the last Sunday of every month.
2) Get some gifts - cage cloth, cups, clocks, notepads, pens, cheap cages, breakfast.... anything that we fancy at the time.
3) Promote the scoring system that was laid out during the online competition (ahem! gotta move my butt to speed up the prizes for the winners :oops: thousand apologies)
4) Get the Shama "kaki" together for a picnic by the "Padang Merbok"
5) Then over breakfast, we vote each others' bird in or out and the winner gets the goodies (gifts la)
6) Winner gets to give a 5 minutes speech to thank the rest and highlight the good and bad points of his Shama.

of course then the issue...... in a small group, a Shama may be winning every month :shock:
then we could try another category......

7) Winner can also goes to the owner of a Shama that has improved itself vastly over others throughout the months.

note: at least one spectator from the Merbok crowd has moved forward to express interest to "chai" his Shama with us :D This is progress hehehe!

Meeting Wan & friends

Wan called about 5+ pm. Was loitering in Osman's house talking nonsense and gossipping. Actually wanted to find out his view of keeping the Red Jungle Fowl that has been interbred with our local chicken ;) Seems like it should be alright unless some nosy neighbours complains.

Prior to that was at Low's place to pass to him a male Merbok for him to breed from and return his metal cage. Will take it back from him after 2 clutches of chicks.
The Merbok involved:


Wan came with two friends. They were fascinated by the "Pentet". Finally passed to him the Tanau. One less worry for me when I go travelling.

Holding a Zebra Dove

Was bathing both my Zebra Doves this morning and came to realised that the technique of holding the birds are as important as any other tips and tricks that I have learned so far (as regards to feeding and care). With the correct technique, the birds become less alarmed and chances of injury or escape is minimised. Thanks to all that have taught me ;)