Hwamei Pt.1

I have never kept Hwamei before. It was not commonly available when I started to pick up on this hobby. So, couldn't resist getting one when it became available. Was told by a friend (now considered my Hwamei sifu) that it could be a very challenging bird to keep. Challenging not in the sense of difficulty of care or hardiness. Challenging because, I virtually got no proper view of the bird for months to facilitate the process of taming and acclimatising the birds. Most of the time, the cage is covered. So, this is not going to be too much fun.

Even the bathing cage is kept covered to prevent the bird from being frightened and hurting itself.


Two subspecies are known:
Leucodioptron canorum canorum - South-eastern & central China
Leucodioptron canorum owstoni - Hainan Island
Those found in Taiwan (Leucodioptron taewanum) has been considered a separate species.

It has been interesting reading about them. But information in English on the upkeep and maintenance of the Hwamei is scarce.

Here is mine, in a quiet corner singing away on the 2nd day he arrived.

Puteh - an Experiment in Relocation Pt.3/3

I shall make this the last part of Puteh relocation series. Then will consider trapping the bird to see whether it is the same one visiting or there are others out there......
So far, I have not seen more than 1 flying about. Hmmm.... interesting if this is the only one staying behind. Why?? would be a good question to ask ;)

Here it is visiting the bathing cage. It actually went in to investigate the tray of water:


In my next life, I want to be a Jambul, it seems to say :D


Had an interesting day "chai" both my Magpies today (Black Magpie & local Magpie) in a friend's house. The Black Magpie was full of "fire" even though he appears to be a bit sedentary at home. The local Magpie still has a long way to go. What was interesting is seeing a good specimen of an Oriental Magpie Robin which belongs to a friend. Must video this fella one day, just to confirm that he is able to maintain such open wing and tail posture or its just one of those once off thing ;)

Choosing a Mata Puteh

About a week or so ago, a couple of friends decided to "chai" Mata Puteh in an orchard. Very nice setting, much privacy and natural surrounding.

Testing of a pikat Merbok:

Breeding Jambuls Pt.4

Gave up breeding Jambuls yesterday. Firstly, the nest was placed too high for me to see the inside. Even with a 5 steps ladder, I couldn't peek into the nest to determine whether there are chicks or eggs. Bad design, bad layout ......sigh!

Then came the task of taking the birds out. The female got no problem hopping out from the aviary to an open Shama cage placed outside the door. The male is a little tricky. I tried luring him out with food (mealworms), another male and the female. He just refused to come out and preferred to perch high and sing his heart out. As a last resort, I went inside the aviary and caught him with a net.

Then, surprise, surprise! there are 2 eggs in the nest when I took it down.



I have read about candling and all that, but when comes to practical, I can't tell whether its fertile or not. Anyway, I decided to lower down the nest so that the small tree will actually block it from view, but when I peek from higher up, i could see the inside. Now, the challenge is whether the pair would mind after the nest has been shifted and they have been harassed (taken out of the aviary) ;)

......glad to report that on Christmas Day today, the female Jambul is spotted using the nest and continued incubating the eggs. Since I do not know when the eggs were laid, I would take yesterday as day 1 and start counting to determine whether the eggs are fertile or not. That is me, the amateur weekend breeder hehehe!