Some videos of my shamas taken in the past few months.
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Videos of shamas
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Article 3
This is a video of my mini hua mei (Tieu Mi):
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Article 2
Here is a clearer video of my mini hua mei:
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Article 1
Below are videos of my captive-bred shama, Ballet Dancer, that were recorded yesterday evening. He is the son of Godfather and he is over 12 years old.
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Moult
I was recently asked about a matter relating to moulting shamas. Below is my reply:
Hi ___________,
Your shama seems to be molting well. It’s still too early to know if the bird will have prawn tails as the secondary tail feathers hold up the primary feathers (the 2 longest tails) and prevent them from curving downwards.
I notice from the photos that the bird is fed dry-food in a cup with insects on the floor. When I do this, the bird tends to eat the insects and neglect the dry food. This is not desirable, as I have found that feeding the molting shama only live food often does not result in a good molt. The reason is that we only have crickets and mealworms and perhaps pineapple beetles and these do not provide sufficient variety of nutrition to ensure that the bird gets all the nourishment it needs for the molt. My experience is that the molting shama also needs to eat dry food as well as insects and small fish (or frogs) if it is to have a good molt.
My practice nowadays in feeding molting shamas is to mix cut insects with the powdered dry-food. This is how I do it:
(1) Put crickets, mealworms and pineapple beetles in a container. An empty 3-Coins container will do but a higher container is better to prevent the crickets from jumping out;
(2) Partly cover the top of the container with a hand and cut the insects with a scissors. Don’t cut the insects too small as they become very wet if you do so. Shamas do not like food that is wet;
(3) Add palm oil or some other oil (such as omega 3) to the cut – insects. Do not put too much oil. You will know if you have added too much as the bird will tend to eat less of the food;
(4) Then add powdered multi-vitamins with a high concentration of vitamin B. For my powdered multi-vitamins and vitamin B, I use a brand named, “From Fatigued to Fantastic”. It can be purchased from iherb.com.
(5) Add powdered dry-food. The oil that is applied on the insects will help the dry food to stick to them.
(6) Change the food twice a day.
(7) Check the droppings to ensure that the bird is eating both the dry food and the cut insects.
The molting shama should also be kept in an environment where it can molt in peace. We don’t want the shama to get excited during this period. If the shama gets excited, testosterone will be released into its blood stream and this will have an adverse impact on the molt.
The cage of the molting shama be partially covered with a cloth. It should be kept in the same part of the house and the cage should only be moved for bathing.
It should be bathed at least once a day. If possible, use rain-water for bathing the bird as tap water contains clorine which is detrimental for the feathers.
Do not place the caged bird in the sun after bathing as the tail feathers will tend to curve upwards if you do so.
Best regards,
David
David
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Goose
This is Goose. He is Ballet Dancer's son from last year. His mother is Apache's daughter.
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Apache has consistently proven that he produces progeny with exceptionally strong character and superb song regardless of the female that he is paired to.
I paired Ballet Dancer with Apache's daughter to try to further develop and continue this trait. The pairing seems to be successful as Goose seems to exhibit the traits of his grandfather, Apache. He has only just completed his 2nd molt from taimong and I will know for sure to what extent his potential will be realised when he comes into top form in about 1 1/2 months time.
Apache has consistently proven that he produces progeny with exceptionally strong character and superb song regardless of the female that he is paired to.
I paired Ballet Dancer with Apache's daughter to try to further develop and continue this trait. The pairing seems to be successful as Goose seems to exhibit the traits of his grandfather, Apache. He has only just completed his 2nd molt from taimong and I will know for sure to what extent his potential will be realised when he comes into top form in about 1 1/2 months time.
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Phoenix, capitve bred shama
This is a video of Phoenix. He was bred by me from Skyhawk. A search on the internet will show that unscrupulous people are putting the video on their websites and claiming that this shama belongs to them. In fact, Phoenix is still with me and he continues to be one of my favourite birds.
His display and song are reminiscent of his father.
His display and song are reminiscent of his father.
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Article 3
Here are 2 more videos of Phoenix that were uploaded for me by my good friend Alan Pang
In one of the photos, Phoenix is at the end of the perch as I was taking the video with my handphone at the opposite end and he was a little apprehensive about the unfamiliar object.
In one of the photos, Phoenix is at the end of the perch as I was taking the video with my handphone at the opposite end and he was a little apprehensive about the unfamiliar object.
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Goose
On weekends, I like to gather with a few friends at one of our houses and spend some time with the birds that they choose to bring along. Yesterday (Sunday), the gathering was at my home.
I took the opportunity to assess Goose's potential. He recently completed his first moult from taimong and I had transferred him from the moulting aviary to a cage only last Sunday. It takes about 1 1/2 months for a male shama to achieve top form after the moult and, whilst I did not expect him to perform at his best, I hoped to see sufficient in his performance to assure me that the potential that I believed he has, would likely be realised.
Goose did not disappoint. Throughout the 1 1/2 hours of the gathering, he sang and displayed. There was constant movement from him suggesting that when he reaches top form, he will likely have a spectacular display.
Goose was hatched on 21st May 2012 so he was 14 months old yesterday. However, like most of my shamas, he is maturing slowly. His beak still shows traces of immaturity as can be seen from the second photo below and he does not react to a female placed close to him. Further, his inner beak is almost completely pale. This makes his performance yesterday all the more remarkable. However, I expected him to do well as he is the son of Ballet Dancer and his mother is Apache's daughter. He seems to have inherited the desirable features from both parents.
His photos are below:
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I took the opportunity to assess Goose's potential. He recently completed his first moult from taimong and I had transferred him from the moulting aviary to a cage only last Sunday. It takes about 1 1/2 months for a male shama to achieve top form after the moult and, whilst I did not expect him to perform at his best, I hoped to see sufficient in his performance to assure me that the potential that I believed he has, would likely be realised.
Goose did not disappoint. Throughout the 1 1/2 hours of the gathering, he sang and displayed. There was constant movement from him suggesting that when he reaches top form, he will likely have a spectacular display.
Goose was hatched on 21st May 2012 so he was 14 months old yesterday. However, like most of my shamas, he is maturing slowly. His beak still shows traces of immaturity as can be seen from the second photo below and he does not react to a female placed close to him. Further, his inner beak is almost completely pale. This makes his performance yesterday all the more remarkable. However, I expected him to do well as he is the son of Ballet Dancer and his mother is Apache's daughter. He seems to have inherited the desirable features from both parents.
His photos are below:
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Pretty Good
This is Pretty Boy's son, Pretty Good at 3 1/2 months of age. He is well into moult though his tails have not shed. His primary taimong tails are about 7". Pretty Boy's son Firefly, from last year's breeding, had taimong tails of 6.5" and his first moult tails were 13 1/2". It will be interesting to see how long Pretty Good's first-moult tails are.
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White-rumped shama, Skyhawk
This unpublished video of Skyhawk was recorded in February 2013:
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Shama pecking at legs
Email from
4:40 AM (5 hours ago)  | | |||
Aloha David,
Your website has been very helpful and I have learned a lot from it, but I have a question about my shama that I can not seem to find the answer to. He has been picking at his legs and I am not sure what this is about. (are these birds known to be on the neurotic side?)
He is an adult wild bird who sustained a broken wing and is unreleasable. I have had him for about a year now and about 2 months ago he started picking his ankle area. I gave him a round of antibiotics (because his leg was swollen and red) and it got better but the area that he picks still looked like it was discolored. Now I noticed that he has begun to pick his other leg. (he picks at both now) He has stopped singing (he used to sing all day long and now he's quiet, sometimes fluffy, sleeps more but he is still eating well.
He has given me a very hard time eating anything I infuse with Vitamen B complex liquid (so he has had very minimal B in the past month). He discards it, even though meal worms are his favorite. I do sprinkle some Nekton's vitamin's every other day on his food which does have a multitude of vitamins including B. Could this be causing this behavior ? Do you think it could be boredom? Neurosis?
Have you ever had any experience with shama's pecking at their legs?
any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
| Reply | 9:55 AM (41 minutes ago) | | |
Hi Nicole,
The shama pecks at its legs because something irritates it. My experience of this has been limited to the bird pecking at the leg band. In severe cases, I have removed the band. I have discussed your problem with my good friend Jeffrey Low and his views are set out below.
There are many causes for the bird pecking at its legs. The scales on the legs may be too dry, or there may be scaly feet mites or the diet may lack vitamin A.
As a first measure, I would increase Vitamin A in the diet by adding a very little Cod Liver OIl or any Vitamin A supplement. I would also allow the bird to bathe more often; at least once or even twice a day. Applying baby oil, such as Johnson's Baby Oil also helps.
I do not infuse liquid Vitamin B into the insects. I find that it is sufficient to lightly coat my fingers with Vitamin B and then wipe it on the insects. Start with just a little until the birds get used to the taste. If the bird is eating dry food, adding powdered Vitamin B into the food is a good way to administer it. Nekton sell 35 gm containers of Vitamin B in powder form. Alternatively, grind the tablets into powder. Always bear in mind that Vitamin B spoils quickly if not properly stored. It should be bright yellow in colour. If it starts to turn dark, discard it.
Hope the above helps.
Best regards,
David
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Scaly legs
Cyberboyz1010 asks what can be done if a shama has scaly legs?
I would firstly comment that a bird that receives proper nutrition and is offered daily bathing facilities is unlikely to have scaly legs. If a bird has scaly legs and it does not seem to cause discomfort, I would suggest that there is no need to remove the scales. If it is desired to do so, below are 2 methods, either of which requires the bird to be caught.
Hold the bird in the hand and immerse the legs in very warm water. The water should be as warm as your hand can tolerate. The soaking will soften the scales. After soaking for a minute or so, gently peel off the scales.
The other method is to use a light oil instead of warm water to soften the scales. In the past, I have used Johnson's Baby Oil. Hold the bird in the hand and gently rub some oil on the scales until they soften then peel off the scales.
Its been many years now since my birds have had much scales on their legs. I attribute this to good diet and daily bathing.
I would firstly comment that a bird that receives proper nutrition and is offered daily bathing facilities is unlikely to have scaly legs. If a bird has scaly legs and it does not seem to cause discomfort, I would suggest that there is no need to remove the scales. If it is desired to do so, below are 2 methods, either of which requires the bird to be caught.
Hold the bird in the hand and immerse the legs in very warm water. The water should be as warm as your hand can tolerate. The soaking will soften the scales. After soaking for a minute or so, gently peel off the scales.
The other method is to use a light oil instead of warm water to soften the scales. In the past, I have used Johnson's Baby Oil. Hold the bird in the hand and gently rub some oil on the scales until they soften then peel off the scales.
Its been many years now since my birds have had much scales on their legs. I attribute this to good diet and daily bathing.
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Tail feather mites
26/7/13 | | ||
Hi V,
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I think the shama in the 2 photos has tail feather mites. These are tiny insects that eat only the feathers. They usually starting eating the feather as it is starting to grow. In very bad cases, the mites start to eat the feathers even before the feather emerges from the sheath.
I try to make sure that there are no mites on my birds (especially feather mites) by applying an insecticide to my birds before they are about to moult. The 2 brands that I use are Accurate and Frontline. After using a particular brand for several months, the mites will become immune to that particular insecticide and it will no longer be effective. I therefore change to the other brand. In other words, the brands need to be rotated in their use.
Care should also be taken to keep the aviaries clean. The droppings need to be removed every few days. When an aviary is empty, I wash the aviary with soap and then spray an insecticide into the edges and corners of the aviary. Wait 2 or 3 days before putting a bird inside.
For the bird in your photo, I would suggest that you clean the aviary and also apply an insecticide to the bird. As the tails are already spoilt, you may wish to catch the bird to apply the insecticide. Alternatively, Accurate is available in a spray bottle that shoots out a jet of insecticide. Alan and I have sprayed our birds while they are in the aviary and no harm as resulted although the body was covered with the insecticide. When spraying in this manner, I try to avoid the head but invariably some insecticide will get into the eyes. It seems to cause the bird no discomfort or harm.
As regards feeding during the moult, my experience has been that solely live food my not result in the best moult. I have had good results with offering cut live food mixed with powdered dry food. My birds eat the food without flicking off the dry food. Of course, the bird must like the dry food in the first place.
I hope the above helps.
Best regards,
David
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Shama tails
Pretty Good, Pretty Boy's son from this year has just shed his primary tails. Both were shed on the same day. The tails are about 7" as shown in the photograph. How long will the first moult tails be?
Firefly, who is Pretty Boy's son from last year had taimong tails of 6.5" and his first moult tails were 13.5" (I always measure tip to tip).
Pretty Boy's son, Chilli, from a later nest had taimong tails of 6.75" and his first moult tails were 12.5". Chilli has recently completed his 2nd moult from taimong and his primary tails look like they exceed 14". BTW, I like him very much. He has much of the qualities that I want in a shama. Superb structure, courage, display and wonderful song. He has recently learnt some of the Samyong's songs and also picked up the siren sound of an ambulance. The siren song is modified so it is very pleasant.
Skyhawk has also just shed his tails and they are 14".
Pretty Good's tails are the longest of the taimongs that I have bred over the years. It will be interesting to see if his first moult tails exceed 13.5".
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Firefly, who is Pretty Boy's son from last year had taimong tails of 6.5" and his first moult tails were 13.5" (I always measure tip to tip).
Pretty Boy's son, Chilli, from a later nest had taimong tails of 6.75" and his first moult tails were 12.5". Chilli has recently completed his 2nd moult from taimong and his primary tails look like they exceed 14". BTW, I like him very much. He has much of the qualities that I want in a shama. Superb structure, courage, display and wonderful song. He has recently learnt some of the Samyong's songs and also picked up the siren sound of an ambulance. The siren song is modified so it is very pleasant.
Skyhawk has also just shed his tails and they are 14".
Pretty Good's tails are the longest of the taimongs that I have bred over the years. It will be interesting to see if his first moult tails exceed 13.5".
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Alpha's chicks
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My friends' shamas
Today I would like to give an update of what my close “shama” friends, Michael Leong and Jeffrey Low, have been doing lately in shamas.
Michael and I have shared an interest in breeding shamas together since 1997. That is many generations of shamas that we have bred. Just as with Michael, I share my male and female shamas with Jeffrey. These 2 friends are the only persons with whom I share my shamas for breeding.
Michael’s interest is primarily the Red-whiskered Bulbul, a species of which I have only a mild interest that is not sufficient for me to keep them for any length of time. Jeffrey, of course, has both practical and in-depth knowledge of birds and especially shamas.
Last year, Michael bred 2 outstanding males from Alpha and Killer, so named as she had even managed to kill a male whom she did not take a liking to. This year, Michael has a first clutch of 3 chicks from this pair. Michael has generously suggested that I rear those chicks from this batch that are male and that I keep for myself the one that is the more outstanding. I am really looking forward to how these chicks will turn out.
The video below is of Alpha’s chicks (at about 30 days) with their father:
Jeffrey has also resolved the infertility problems that he has had with Funkie and Fatina (both bred by me) and they also have a clutch of 3 chicks that are now a few days old. The video of their chicks is below:
Jeffrey’s thinking and analysis that produced results are in this recent forum post of his that he had sent to me:
Another experiment that further reinforced my thinking that chicken feed could be good enough for shamas: I was trying to breed from Funkie and Fatina since a few months ago. The pair was fed free-flow full live food consisting of crickets, mealworms, roaches and some fish throughout the day. This has been my practice (as well as that of most other breeders) for breeding pairs and the reason to feed free-flow full live food is to stimulate the bird to come into breeding form and also for them to raise the chicks. However, once they were given free-flow live food, the birds will not eat dry food willingly anymore and this live food diet for them would normally have to continue throughout the breeding season.
After 3 unsuccessful clutches, I had finally concluded that the failure to breed from them successfully this year was due to the birds being not well prepared. They also did not molt well prior to being paired. Funkie had also suffered from fits during this period and that is another indication that he is not fit.
All 3 clutches were infertile. At this point, I decided to convert both the birds to dry food from the live food diet, in the hope that the failure up to now was also partly due to dietary deficiencies from the full live food diet. It took only 2 days to switch them to feeding only on chicken feed and this continued to be their only food for the next one week. Thereafter, once I was sure that they were feeding very well on chicken feed, I began supplementing them with live food in the evening, offering them free access to live food for about an hour at the end of each day. I had planned to continue this way of feeding the pair until chicks are successfully hatched and then to switch to full live food again for the period it takes for them to raise the chicks.
Fatina laid the fourth clutch a couple of weeks later and 2 out of 3 eggs from this clutch were fertile. However, Fatina killed and ate the 2 chicks as soon as they hatched.
I continued with the chicken feed supplemented with live food diet and another clutch was laid recently. This fifth clutch had looked promising judging from the size of the eggs and there were also more eggs this time, 4 of them as compared to previous clutches of 2 and 3 eggs. Today is the 11th day since Fatina started sitting on this clutch and I placed a tub of live food inside the aviary just before sunrise, in anticipation. 2 chicks hatched this morning and since then, Fatina was seen feeding them throughout the day. (Funkie is meanwhile paired up with another hen, leaving Fatina to raise these chicks on her own). All is well up to now and I am crossing my fingers that there will be more than 2 chicks.
Whether or not these chicks will survive until they fledge is another matter. The fact that a normal sized clutch of 4 eggs was laid from a pair fed mostly with chicken feed and its successful hatching today may be able to give us some indications of the nutritional quality of chicken feed.
The video below is of Funkie that Jeff recorded with his handphone just a few days ago:
The last video is of one of Flame’s chicks that I bred in December last year and that is now owned by Jeffrey. Jeffrey has named him "Dato", so maybe I will name one of my chicks "Tan Sri". Flame’s father is Pretty Boy and the video suggests that this chick that is presently less than 8 moths old, has inherited some of his father’s and grandfather’s character.
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My Mini Hway Bee (Spot-throated Babbler, Tieu Mi). Video recorded on 9th August 2013.
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Care of shamas
9 August 2013
Dear mr. David,
My name is Sean. I’m from Arizona, USA. I have 2 male shamas that i bought from Andy Doan in California. After their 3rd moult, they don’t sing as much and as loud anymore. Should I get a female shama for them?
My name is Sean. I’m from Arizona, USA. I have 2 male shamas that i bought from Andy Doan in California. After their 3rd moult, they don’t sing as much and as loud anymore. Should I get a female shama for them?
I’m feeding them insectivoir Mazuri, superworms and crickets everyday. Do u think they might lack of vitamins? What kind and brand of vitamin should i give it to them and where can i find them? Can i have the website?
My biggest problem is taking care of the tail. they are in biggest bamboo cage and taking a bath every couple days. Doesn’t matter what kind of food I’m feeding them, their tails never look good and healthy. I’m so depressed. Can u please help me? I’d appreciate it.
Thanks,
Sean
14 August 2013
Hi Sean,
I have corresponded with Andy over very many years. I think he has some of the best shamas in the USA. You should be happy with the birds from him.
The shama in captivity will be in his prime when he is about 4 years of age. He should therefore be approaching his prime after the 3rd moult and should be singing and displaying better than ever. The drop in the performance of your birds could be due to several factors. I will list some of them so that you can see if any are likely to apply to your birds:
* The diet may be lacking in vitamins and other supplements. I would think that Mazuri, superworms and crickets is not likely to meet all the nutritional needs of the shama. It is advisable to give a multi-vitamin supplement with very high doses of vitamin B. Nowadays, I use the Energy Revitalization System that I purchase from iherb.com. I add this to the dry food.
* Shamas require some oil in their diet. I add extra virgin palm oil or cod liver oil or vitamin E oil or extra virgin coconut oil to the dry food. These can all be purchased from iherb.com. Without oil the feathers, including the tails, tend to be dry and brittle.
* In the home, the shamas should be kept separate so that they are not within sight of each other. I try to keep them at least 10 feet apart.
* They should be offered a bath daily and at least once every 2 days. Bathing keeps the feathers clean and assists in feather growth during the moult.
* Do not expose them to prolonged light during the night. If you go to bed late, cover the cages with a cloth.
It is not feasble to give detailed advice by correspondence. You may wish to refer to my blog where the needs of the shama are considered in greater detail. If you know Andy, he will be the best person to assist you.
Best regards,
David
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Breeding - Building a strain of shamas
I have had some success in breeding the type of shama that I dreamed of long ago and today, my birds can almost be described as constituting a “strain”. They have similar physical and mental characteristics as well as recognized traits and I am sometimes told that someone has seen a shama that ".... looks like one of your birds".
My limited success has led some breeders, especially those who are new to breeding shamas, to ask what they need to do if they also want to develop a strain of shama. I will try to answer this question below and in subsequent posts.
For a start, you need to be aware that before you can breed the bird of your dreams, you will have to decide on the qualities that you desire in your bird. Do you just want a bird with a song that is different and more melodious than those of other shamas with the courage to do well in song competitions? This is a valid aim and it is in fact the aim of many Indonesian breeders who want to produce and train the shama for its song as their competitions are truly song competitions with little regard to other features such as display and structure. If this is your aim, then you will need to look for a bird that has what you want to possibly form your foundation stock on the basis of the principles that I suggest.
In other parts of South East Asia, song alone is not enough and hobbyists look for birds with a combination of qualities, such as good structure, long tails, melodious song, eye-catching display, stamina and courage. For me, my dream bird needs to have all of these features. In addition, it should have long tails exceeding 14” that are not too broad so that it will be able to sweep them above its head for extended periods during its display.
Bear in mind that in trying to create a strain, you will be trying to implement your vision of what you want your birds to be and you will need to invest many bird generations in the quest to achieve your aim. Over time and with selective breeding, you may be able to develop your own special strain. It obviously takes many years of sustained effort and commitment to do so.
It has been more than a dozen years since I first paired Godfather and although there are 10 to 15 generations in my present strain of shamas, I am still some way from my dream bird, but that is what makes breeding exciting as each year I hope that from the birds that I breed, there will be the perfect shama.
It has been more than a dozen years since I first paired Godfather and although there are 10 to 15 generations in my present strain of shamas, I am still some way from my dream bird, but that is what makes breeding exciting as each year I hope that from the birds that I breed, there will be the perfect shama.
Having made up your mind on the qualities that your dream bird should have, look around for a bird that best fits the image of the bird you have in mind. In looking for such a bird, the question arises as to whether it is preferable to breed from a wild-caught or a captive-bred. It depends. If the breeder has really developed a strain of birds, and has the type of bird that you like, it makes sense to acquire a pair of birds from him, or at least an outstanding male or female. His birds will have a concentration of the genes that you want in your birds and an outstanding bird from him to found your foundation stock will make it more likely for you to develop the type of birds that have similar attributes as his birds.
On the other hand, if the breeder has been indiscriminately pairing his birds, or he has not himself developed a strain, or both parents of his chicks are not from an established strain, then the offspring will have haphazardly inherited genes. The result is that even if the bird(s) that you get from this breeder is an outstanding specimen, it will be less likely to be able to replicate itself in its chicks. In such case, it really makes little difference whether or not you get a breeder shama from him or you get a wild-caught that also has the features that you like.
On the other hand, if the breeder has been indiscriminately pairing his birds, or he has not himself developed a strain, or both parents of his chicks are not from an established strain, then the offspring will have haphazardly inherited genes. The result is that even if the bird(s) that you get from this breeder is an outstanding specimen, it will be less likely to be able to replicate itself in its chicks. In such case, it really makes little difference whether or not you get a breeder shama from him or you get a wild-caught that also has the features that you like.
I often have requests for my females and I would like to use this opportunity to state that, as a rule, I do not part with my females. As I am working towards developing a strain and I am a hobbyist and not a commercial breeder, it does not make sense for me to freely sell pairs that I have invested much time and effort to develop. This is especially so as a buyer of such birds can acquire a pair and then potentially flood the market with birds that are supposedly from my line and sell them at high prices. With this in mind, I have made my females (and males) available to only my very good friends, Michael and Jeffrey, whom I absolutely trust with my shamas.
Bear the above in mind when a seller is offering you a male and/or female that he claims has been developed from my strain of shamas. He may perhaps have bred from one of the males that I occasionally sell and that are surplus to my needs but the progeny will not be fully from my strain. In such case, the phrase in law is, "caveat emptor" or "buyer beware". Loosely translated, it means that an intending buyer should make his own investigations to determine if what the seller claims is true.
However, if a shama is being acquired from Michael or Jeffrey and you are told that it was supplied by me or that it is 100% bred from my line of birds, you can be sure that it is true since they would have acquired the birds from me or are breeding directly from the males and females of my strain. In such event their taimongs are no different from mine.
Bear the above in mind when a seller is offering you a male and/or female that he claims has been developed from my strain of shamas. He may perhaps have bred from one of the males that I occasionally sell and that are surplus to my needs but the progeny will not be fully from my strain. In such case, the phrase in law is, "caveat emptor" or "buyer beware". Loosely translated, it means that an intending buyer should make his own investigations to determine if what the seller claims is true.
However, if a shama is being acquired from Michael or Jeffrey and you are told that it was supplied by me or that it is 100% bred from my line of birds, you can be sure that it is true since they would have acquired the birds from me or are breeding directly from the males and females of my strain. In such event their taimongs are no different from mine.
This year, I have made available 6 female shamas to Jeffrey. Two are adults with 8" tails and 4 are taimongs. One of the taimongs is Flame’s daughter that Jeffrey himself chose. It has now moulted and it is outstanding. With these females (less 1 taimong that Jeffrey released although it wasn't Vesak day) I expect that he will have the stock to breed the bird of his dreams next year.
Jeffrey has successfully mated Funkie this year and he shows a photo of a nest of 3 chicks from Funkie on a forum of which he is the moderator. Here is a photo of the "pick of the litter". An outstanding feature is the very large head which is on a defined neck. (Don't blame me for the fuzzy image. Jeffrey's photographic skills are far distant from his bird skills.)
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As for Michael, he only does very limited shama breeding as his primary interest is Jambuls. Nevertheless, he has an outstanding breeder pair in Alpha and Killer that were both bred by me. Last year, this pair produced 2 outstanding males, one of which far surpassed our expectations and we were looking forward to it completing its first moult. Unfortunately, his maid accidentally let it escape and it was not recovered.
This year, Michael began his shama breeding late. He now has 5 chicks from 2 nests from Alpha and Killer with more likely to come. The 3 chicks from the first nest (2 males and 1 female) are now with me. They are about 50 days old. They show real promise but being in the aviary it is difficult to properly assess them.
In about 3 weeks when their tails have fully moulted, I will transfer the 2 males to individual cages. When they have settled down, Michael and I will together choose the male that I should keep for myself. The other 2 chicks will be returned to Michael although he has generously suggested that I should keep all 3 for myself.
Since my friends and I are not likely to sell our female shamas, the beginning shama breeder will need to decide whether to get only a male from us or to get a pair from another source. All I can say is that a male from us that is paired with an unrelated female will more likely produce more desirable progeny than perhaps a pair from another source.
The reason is that the generations of inbreeding will result in certain traits being fixed and these are more likely to be passed down, even through an unrelated female. In other words, you are more likely to find a prepotent bird from a breeder who has bred selectively for many generations until he has a strain than from one who does not have a strain. BTW a prepotent male is one that is able to reproduce chicks that are as good or better than himself.
As an example of what has been achieved by mating a male from an established strain with an unrelated female, below are 2 photos of the progeny of a bird, Max, that I had sold to Agus of Indonesia and the accompanying messages:
"Hi David, how are you doing? I just want to send a pic of Max's kid. Still pushing his tail; the body still plump as well"
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"Next is one of Max's daughters"
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"Out of the __ Max's chicks some turned out to be quite similar with the father."
"Thank you David, it wouldn't happen without Max. One again, thank you so much."
Jeffrey has successfully mated Funkie this year and he shows a photo of a nest of 3 chicks from Funkie on a forum of which he is the moderator. Here is a photo of the "pick of the litter". An outstanding feature is the very large head which is on a defined neck. (Don't blame me for the fuzzy image. Jeffrey's photographic skills are far distant from his bird skills.)
As for Michael, he only does very limited shama breeding as his primary interest is Jambuls. Nevertheless, he has an outstanding breeder pair in Alpha and Killer that were both bred by me. Last year, this pair produced 2 outstanding males, one of which far surpassed our expectations and we were looking forward to it completing its first moult. Unfortunately, his maid accidentally let it escape and it was not recovered.
This year, Michael began his shama breeding late. He now has 5 chicks from 2 nests from Alpha and Killer with more likely to come. The 3 chicks from the first nest (2 males and 1 female) are now with me. They are about 50 days old. They show real promise but being in the aviary it is difficult to properly assess them.
In about 3 weeks when their tails have fully moulted, I will transfer the 2 males to individual cages. When they have settled down, Michael and I will together choose the male that I should keep for myself. The other 2 chicks will be returned to Michael although he has generously suggested that I should keep all 3 for myself.
Since my friends and I are not likely to sell our female shamas, the beginning shama breeder will need to decide whether to get only a male from us or to get a pair from another source. All I can say is that a male from us that is paired with an unrelated female will more likely produce more desirable progeny than perhaps a pair from another source.
The reason is that the generations of inbreeding will result in certain traits being fixed and these are more likely to be passed down, even through an unrelated female. In other words, you are more likely to find a prepotent bird from a breeder who has bred selectively for many generations until he has a strain than from one who does not have a strain. BTW a prepotent male is one that is able to reproduce chicks that are as good or better than himself.
As an example of what has been achieved by mating a male from an established strain with an unrelated female, below are 2 photos of the progeny of a bird, Max, that I had sold to Agus of Indonesia and the accompanying messages:
"Hi David, how are you doing? I just want to send a pic of Max's kid. Still pushing his tail; the body still plump as well"
"Next is one of Max's daughters"
"Out of the __ Max's chicks some turned out to be quite similar with the father."
"Thank you David, it wouldn't happen without Max. One again, thank you so much."
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