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DDS263

September 30, 2014, 5:53 pm
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This is DDS263 - a female shama that I bred in April this year from Flame.  It was acquired by Somchai's friend from Jeffrey Low when it was a taimong (juvenile).

After Somchai's friend had kept it for sometime, Somchai had sent a photo of the bird to Jeff that showed the bird in the beginning of its molt.  It seemed to Jeff from the photo that the bird was not in the best condition for its molt and Jeff had suggested to Somchai that his friend change the bird's dry food to the one that Jeff is using.

Somchai sent me the photo yesterday of the bird showing the result of having been fed on JL's Power Shama Food throughout most of the molt.

Somchai commented that he did no know if the bird had fully completed its molt or if the tails are still growing.  He felt that if the bird had been fed on Jeff's food in preparation for the molt, the tails might well have grown longer. However, his friend is well satisfied with the bird and its breeding potential.





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Female juvenile & Sting

October 2, 2014, 5:30 pm
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This is Ballet Dancer's daughter that I bred earlier this year.  It is presently less than 4 months old and still a "baby" as can be seen from the sides of its beak. It is fed on Jeffrey's shama food.

It has completed its body molt but the tails still have much growth left. I would regard the molt so far as "perfect". Just see the alert expression in its eyes and the slightly raised white rump feathers of this very young bird. The good fortune to get birds like this bode well for the future of my captive shama breeding.


The photographs below are of Sting that I took last night.  The photos were taken under fluorescent lighting so they are not very good.  I had transferred him from the breeding aviary to a cage as my neighbour is carrying out renovations and the noise had upset the pair.  He was feeling exuberant so I took the photos to record his displays.



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Article 1

October 6, 2014, 5:49 pm
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I recorded the videos below of my Samyong yesterday.  It has recently completed its molt and is presently in top form. It takes the same food and receives the same care as my shamas.



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Shama juvenile - DDS292

October 6, 2014, 6:22 pm
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This is Falcon's and Funkie's daughter's youngest son, DDS292, at 60 days of age. The first video was recorded by Jeffrey on his handphone and it shows the general condition and movement of the bird.  The 2nd video, which I recorded, shows the posture of the bird which is something that I try to breed in my shamas.


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Boy Wonder, 121014

October 12, 2014, 6:23 pm
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This is Boy Wonder at the end of his 2nd molt. The video was recorded on my handphone yesterday. He shows great promise.  Some birds sing but don't display.  Others display but don't sing much.  He does both.
His performance in the video was unexpected as he is only just completing his molt.  He was hatched on 21 October 2013 and is slightly less than a year old. Both his song and display should continue to improve as he continues to gain form.  He should reach top form in 1 to 1 1/2 months.
Furthermore, shamas reach full maturity when they are 3 to 4 years old, so he still has much development to go.



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Update report on DDS265

October 15, 2014, 5:54 pm
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On 29 September, I posted a video of Ballet Dancer's son (DDS265) that Jeffrey Low is looking after for his friend during its molt. The bird is presently only 5 1/2 months old. It has been named "Samsom".

The video below shows how the molt has progressed in the 16 days since the last recording. The molt is not complete and the tails should continue to grow longer.

There was no attempt to make the bird sing and display for the video as a rise in form during the molt can adversely affect the tail length and the bird's form after the molt. Nevertheless, the taimong's strong character and the nature of its potential display can be seen from the video.


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Letter from France

October 16, 2014, 6:51 pm
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Below is a new blog on shamas by Loutfi (Huli Papu). It is in French but a transalation into English is available on the site:

http://shamaclubfrance.wordpress.com/ 

I also set out below an email that I received from Loutfi yesterday.

Shama Songbird

Attachments7:13 PM (14 hours ago)
to David
Hello David,

On the 18th of September, I sent you fotos of a pair of Shamas in very bad
condition that I had just bought from a breeder here in France. You will find
the foto of the female Shama that I sent you, attached with this e-mail,
as she was on 18th september.

Then, i took the "opportunity" to strictly apply your recommendations and 
using Jeffrey's Shama Food to see what will be the results.

The results can be seen in the fotos that I just took today, the 16th October,
that is to say less than 1 month later and I think that the fotos speak better
than words ...

I send you this first report regarding only the female because the male is still 
molting his tails ... and I should be able to give a report within a few weeks ... 

Warmest regards
Loutfi
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My Samyong

October 19, 2014, 6:23 pm
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The song of my Samyongs continue to improve.  Below is the video of Samyong No. 1 that was recorded over the weekend.
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Dry food for shamas

October 19, 2014, 6:50 pm
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As an update to my 17 October post titled "Letter from France" visit Jeffrey's blog http://jeffctlow.blogspot.com and see how wonderful Jeff's dry food is.  The video shows a shama mother feeding her chicks with moistened dry food although live crickets are nearby.


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Update on DDS265, "Samsom"

October 26, 2014, 6:20 pm
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There are 4 posts that I have in mind to do and for which I already have the videos, photographs and materials.  These are:

1.  My impressions of the Samyong after keeping 2 males for 16 months with suggestions on how to care for it.

2.  Method to polygamously breed the white-rumped shama.

3.  Breeding Wax Worms

4.  A series of video grabs showing in pictures the attitude of an aggressive male shama in display. Below is a photo from the collection:


Please note that the above articles presently exist only in my mind and may be published in due course or not at all.

Meanwhile here is an update video on the molt of DDS265 in the 8 days since October 16.  Jeffrey says that the sheaths of the 2 primary feathers are still present and the feathers are still growing. I will post a further update when the molt is completed.



Somchai, who owns Samsom had also acquired Samsom's sister from Jeffrey. Here she is after the first molt under Jeffrey's care:

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DDS274M

November 2, 2014, 5:33 pm
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This is Skyhawk's grandson (Falcon's son), DDS274M.  He is just over 5 months old having hatched on 27th May 2014.



He was transferred from the molting aviary to the cage the day before the video was recorded.  At this time, just after the molt of this very young male, he has no interest in females. The video shows him singing on his own without a male close by that could agitate him.

The video shows the form that I hope my birds will have as they complete their molt.  If the bird has had a good molt (as in the case of DDS274M), it should have some form on completing the molt and the form should improve and progressively build up over the next 1 1/2 months until the bird reaches its best form for that stage of its life.

DDS274 is the first of Skyhawk's 6 grandsons (hatched this year), to complete his molt. One grandson is with Michael. The other 4 grandsons are still with me.  They are molting but from what I can see, they seem to have inherited the same type of character and display that DDS274M has. I am of course very much looking forward to the time when I will also be able to transfer them from the molting aviary to the cage when their potential can be better assessed..






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My Samyong

November 4, 2014, 12:09 am
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This is a recent video recording of my samyong:

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Golden Boy

November 4, 2014, 5:06 pm
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William Kwa's 1st molt shama Golden Boy which was bred by Michael from Alpha and Killer.  It is about due for its 2nd molt but it still has quite good form.

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DDS274 @ 5 1/2 months of age

November 6, 2014, 5:48 pm
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Samsom (DDS265)

November 9, 2014, 5:21 pm
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This is Samsom at the age of 6 months and with the first molt almost completed.  The video shows him challenging a shama that has been many times champion, immediately after a road trip of many hours.

This is the type of shama that I try to produce in my line of birds - elegant structure, reasonably long tails, good song, display and with a strong character.

He looks quite capable of doing well in a competition even at this young age but I am always in no hurry to compete my birds.  I would rather let them mature and develop their potential before they enter the chai.

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Leucistic China Thrushes

November 9, 2014, 11:57 pm
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This morning, Darren Yeo, released his pair of male and female leucistic china thrushes into his breeding aviary.  They took to each other immediately.  As can be seen in the video, they started plucking leaves that they carried about.  This may be part of the mating ritual.  There was the usual nesting material but the thrushes seemed to ignore it in preference for the fresh leaves on the bush.

Darren had also placed a basket in the bush as the china thrushes are known to build cup shaped nests.  However, the birds seem to be more curious about the open top nest-box that Darren installed for his shamas. It will be interesting to see if they prefer the box to the usual cup nest.

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My Samyong

November 12, 2014, 6:00 pm
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About a week ago, I transferred both my samyongs to outdoor aviaries.

Their songs have continued to improve.  Here is a recording of a song this morning.  The rough sounds that used to accompany a change of song notes have all but disappeared.

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Apache

November 18, 2014, 5:24 pm
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The video is of Apache who is just completing his molt.  Some shamas display a great deal but do not sing.  Others sing but do not display.  To perform at its best, a shama needs to be able to combine song with display and also have courage and stamina. Apache has all these qualities.

Moreover, Apache is able to pass his assets to his offspring. Examples of his outstanding male offspring are Cochise, Piston and Funkie.  In fact, his sons may be assessed as even better than their father.

Apache is getting on in years and for the forthcoming breeding season, I intend to concentrate on obtaining his chicks from several females in order to preserve his genes.

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Passing off

November 20, 2014, 12:20 am
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Following my video post on Apache, I received this comment on my post which I have extracted and published below as it is important that such matters be brought to the attention of people who may be adversely affected by it.

Hello Mr David,
That is an outstanding bird!

Recently, there is a bird offered for sale by a Singaporean breeder claiming that it is the grandson of Apache. I am doubtful of this breeder's claim as I do not believe that he owns any Apache's offsprings. I was told by others that Apache only have a handful of offsprings so far and they are all owned by your friends. Can you kindly advise?

If anybody is considering to acquire this claimed grandson of Apache, please note that Apache has had only a handful of chicks and I have not parted with any of them except to Jeffrey who has Funkie.  Jeffrey has chicks from Funkie, but except for a male that he sold to a friend who still has it, Jeffrey has not parted with any of Funkie's chicks.

I frequently receive information that unscrupulous people are offering to sell birds that are falsely claimed to have been bred by me or from my line of birds.  In most cases, these claims are false and buyers should take care.
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2014 Season

November 20, 2014, 5:17 pm
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This is Falcon's son, Shogun.  He is 6 months old.


This female is the result of an outcross from one of my favourite males with a female that I had acquired at a high price.  I have high hopes that she will add new qualities to my line of shamas in the coming year.


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