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Boy Wonder

November 23, 2014, 5:27 pm
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About a month ago, I published a video of Boy Wonder on this blog.  His form was rising and he was starting to chai causing me to think that he had completed his 2nd molt.  One of his primary tails was then about 1" shorter than the other but this was probably because the old tails had shed at different times.

However, Boy Wonder had not completed his molt and his tails continued to grow.  I was lucky that they were not spoilt by bringing him out to chai too early.  During the growth of the tails, the base is soft.  They are filled with blood and can be easily damaged if the bird waves the tails vigorously.  This is especially so with long-tailed birds towards the end of the tails' growth.

Not only have the tails become longer, but the shorter primary tail has also grown until both tails are about the same length. He is now approaching peak condition.

I usually do not spend time training my birds but most of them are now molting and I have some free time in the evenings.  For the past 2 Thursdays, I have taken Boy Wonder to the night chai at Serangoon North (Singapore).  Although I had not brought him out to chai previously, he was not very nervous in the car and performed well the first Thursday.  He did much better last Thursday and I expect that if I bring him out this coming Thursday, he will show substantial improvement as he will have got used to being transported, especially at night.

The video below shows him singing on his own under artificial lighting at his location in my home as I am getting him ready for bed at night.  The bird singing in the background is about 10 metres away, in my indoor aviary.

Boy wonder learns new songs readily.  These include the songs of the Samyong and the Yellow-vented Bulbul.  The song of the yellow-vented bulbul can be heard at 0.30 and again at 1.05 of the recording.


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DDS274

November 23, 2014, 10:05 pm
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On 2nd November 2014, I uploaded a video on Youtube of Falcon's son, DDS274.  He was then only slightly over 5 months of age and he had just completed his moult.  The length of the video was half-a-minute and I did not post it on my blog.

The video has apparently attracted some attention and it has been uploaded on at least one other site, without acknowledgement that it is taken from my site.  To avoid persons who may be approached to buy it being misled on its ownership, I wish to state that it is not for sale. The video is below:

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Nighthawk (DDS267)

November 26, 2014, 5:22 pm
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The end of this year's shama breeding season is approaching but I still have a few breeding pairs. Most of the birds that were hatched this year are in the midst of their first molt and this is the time that breeders await with anticipation the completion of the molt of the young birds.

Michael, Jeffrey and I molt our birds in aviaries if we can.  During this time, we try to let the birds have a quiet time so that they can have a good molt.  Any serious assessment of their song, character, display and structure needs to await the completion of the molt and the bird's rise in form.  It is only then that it can truly be assessed.

While the molt is a quiet time, this does not prevent my friends and I from speculating on how the birds are likely to turn out.  In the course of our discussions over the phone, photos or videos may be sent so that the person at the other end can have a better idea of what is being discussed.

The photos below are of Nighthawk (DDS267), which is owned by Michael.  Its taimong tails were about 5 1/2". It is about 7 1/2 months old - the son of Falcon and Funkie's daughter. This pair seem to produce the type of shama that my friends and I like.
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The photos were taken by Michael (under dim light) and sent to me in the course of our phone conversation last night when I enquired how DDS267's molt was progressing.

Its molt is approaching completion and Michael will transfer it from aviary to cage in about 2 weeks.  Both of us are waiting with anticipation to see it in a cage so that we can better assess it.

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Pretty Boy ii (DDS276)

November 26, 2014, 9:02 pm
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This is Pretty Boy's son, Pretty Boy ii.  He is about 6 months old and he is owned by Jeffrey.  The video below was recorded this morning a few minutes after his transfer from molting aviary to cage.  The very high lift of his tails suggests the type of display he will likely have when he matures and comes into form.

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Apache, relaxed singing

December 1, 2014, 5:12 pm
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DDS296;011214

December 1, 2014, 5:57 pm
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This is Skyhawk's son, DDS296.  He is 36 days old.  His taimong tails are 3.6" at this age and they have the potential to grow beyond 6".  This is a guess made on the basis that the white and black tails are still almost in line and the growth may continue at an average of about 0.1" a day until the taimong is 65 days old.



If the taimong tails exceed 6", I would expect its first molt tails to be12" to 13+".  This does not mean that taimongs with shorter tails will not have long first molt tails.  Falcon's son, DDS267, which is owned by Michael, had taimong tails of 5.5" but his first molt tails appear to exceed 12"

DDS296 also has the structure, standing position and character that I wish to have in my line of shamas.  Young birds such as this make me impatient for them to complete their development as taimongs and then their first molt so that I can see if their potential is realised.  Its like choosing a puppy. The adult dog may or may not turn out as expected.
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Birds of Taiwan photogarphs

December 10, 2014, 7:08 pm
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DDS294

December 14, 2014, 11:51 pm
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This is Longfellow (DDS294), Pretty Boy's youngest son. He was hatched on 2 October, 2014. His head has started to molt but his primary tails are still growing.


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Skyhawk

December 15, 2014, 6:11 pm
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One of my favourite shamas is Skyhawk. He has all the attributes that I look for in my shamas.  Not only does he have the structure, song and feather quality that I seek to breed in my shamas but he has also proven to be a prepotent sire with the ability to produce males as good or better than himself.  An example of an outstanding male from him is Falcon.

Because of Skyhawk's ability to produce outstanding chicks, he is one of the mainstays of my breeding program.  Consequently, he has spent much of his time in the breeding aviary and he has been entered in very few competitions. Even then, he has managed to do well in the competitions in which he was entered. He was champion in perhaps the last competition that I entered him in, about 2 years ago at Block 159 AMK.

Skyhawk's desirability can be seen in the unsolicited offer of S$18,000.00 that I received for him some time back.  I refused the offer. Fortunately so, as, he is now starting to produce quality offspring in significant numbers.

The trouble that breeders often have in breeding their outstanding animals is that sometimes such animals tend to have very few offspring for some reason or other. This was the problem that I seemed to be having with Skyhawk until recently.

Last year and early this year, I had very few chicks from him and they were mostly female.  To try to reverse the trend I made changes in his diet and I also paired him with a carefully chosen female.

The changes seem to have worked.  In the first nest with this female, he had 2 male chicks.  Below is the video of one of them, DDS296. At 50 days of age, its tails are 5" and the primary tails, still in sheaths, are continuing to grow.  I think there is a good chance the primary tails will exceed 6" in the next 2 weeks.  If so, based on past information of my line of birds, its first molt tails will likely exceed 12". We shall see.




In Skyhawk's second nest with this female, there were 5 eggs of which 4 were fertile and hatched.  Three of the chicks seem to be male, judging from their structure, the size of their heads and the dark blue feathers that are starting to emerge on their shoulders.

Here is the video of the chicks that I recorded this morning. They are 30 days old.



The chicks have the same structure as their older brother, DDS296 and this suggests that Skyhawk has the ability to produce offspring that are very much alike.  It also means that if DDS296 turns out well, as I expect, the other chicks from Skyhawk will likely turn out the same way.

Skyhawk's third nest also had 5 eggs of which 4 were fertile and hatched. The eldest 3 chicks are 11 days old today and the chick still in the nest is 9 days old. It looks like there will also likely be 3 males in this clutch.

Below is the photo that I took of them this morning.

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Their mother commenced brooding a new batch of 5 good size eggs 2 days ago and the eggs should hatch 11 days later, i.e on Christmas Day.  It will be a lovely present if 4 of the eggs hatch and an even lovelier present if all the eggs are fertile and I get 5 chicks.

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Mint and other shamas

December 21, 2014, 6:53 pm
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I spent some of the past weekend assessing my shamas and making plans regarding their breeding and care in the coming year. I also tried to take some videos and photos.

On Saturday, I hung Shogun's cage at my front porch which is one of the places in my home that is suitable to record photos and videos of my birds.

Its easy to take a good photo of Shogun at this time as he is in good form and he sings and displays.  However, its another thing to be able to capture a great photo.  Here is what I mean.

The photo below is not great but it could have been if the angle of the camera to the bird had been more central so that the white tails on both sides are visible.  The wings also need to be more spread out. If these 2 factors had been present, the photo would have been more balanced. Nevertheless, the photo does show the display and aggression of the bird.
 
                        Shogun
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Last Saturday, I also wanted to assess Pretty Boy's 6 months old son, DDS283, that I had named Mint.  He has just completed his molt and I transferred him from aviary to cage.

Mint did not cooperate in the photo shoot.  He seemed to have little form though he would sing on and off as in the photo below. He is also too young to react to a female shama.

                                              Mint
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When Mint did display, he was fluffy and his feathers were not tight to his body. The good thing was that, even though he seemed to have little form, he would constantly lift his tails very high, suggesting the type of display he might have when he comes into form.  The lift of Mint's tails and his out-of-form condition can be seen in the photo below.

                                             Mint
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On Sunday morning, I arranged with Michael to call at his home so that we could go together to buy froglets for our birds. I decided to bring Mint along to start his training to get used to transportation. From his performance at my home the previous day, I did not expect much from him at Michael's home.  Michael and I were both surprised.

For ease of transportation, I had put him in a small cage for the journey to Michael's home.  There, I transferred him to a larger cage.  He heard Michael's shamas and immediately began to sing and display. His unfamiliar journey by car and the first time he had been outside his home and in the presence of strange shamas that challenged him when he entered their territory, did not seem to trouble him at all.

Michael first brought out his shama, Nighthawk. This is a 7 months old son of Falcon's.  Nighthawk's cage was initially placed about 6 feet away from Mint's.  They both sang and displayed well.

Mint seems to be one of those rare shamas that (even when they are not in form), have such a strong character and fighting spirit that they will gear up to do battle when a strange shama is brought close to them.  He reminds me of his elder brother Chilli.  With such a strong character, I suppose I could train and compete him even at this very young age but I will not do this.  I intend to let him develop at his own pace so that he can fully realise his potential in due course.

This is the video of Nighthawk:



A striking feature of Nighthawk's display and, to a lesser extent, Mint's, is that they both hold their tails up in the air and wave them. Here is the video of Mint:



After Nighthawk and Mint had been singing for some time, Michael placed their cages close to each other.  Below is the video of the birds singing and displaying to each other:



Mint's tails look longer than Nighthawk in the above video but, actually, Nighthawk's tails are slightly longer and I think they substantially exceed 12 inches.  I suppose its the angle of the camera that makes Mint's tails appear longer.  Here is a photo of Nighthawk that indicates the length of his tails.

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Michael and I are both happy with the young shamas that we have produced this year from our line-bred birds.  The shamas that were hatched this year are now in various stages of molt and we will only know how well they will turn out when they complete their molts in 1 to 2 months time.

Nevertheless, the future of our line of shamas looks promising. The videos show 2 of our very young birds that have only recently completed their molts but that surprisingly already have courage, striking display, aggression, streamlined structure, beauty and that are a joy to watch. It is not often that shamas at the very young age of 6 to 7 months are able to perform in the way that Nighthawk and Mint do.

Finally here is a video of Apache in the breeding aviary. He produces outstanding progeny but it is difficult to get chicks from him.  I will try my best to get more chicks from him next year.





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Chilli's son

December 22, 2014, 5:00 pm
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This is Chilli's son, from a mating with an unrelated female. It completed its first molt recently. It was bred by Darren Yeo who also owns it. The grandfather (Chilli's father) is Pretty Boy.

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Golden Voice

December 25, 2014, 4:51 pm
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Mint - flag waving

December 28, 2014, 4:49 pm
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Curve

December 30, 2014, 4:48 pm
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Mint & King David

January 1, 2015, 4:44 pm
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Shama Foundation Stock

January 4, 2015, 5:03 pm
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This is Michael Leong's 7th months old shama, Golden Hawk. It is the youngest son of Alpha and Killer from last year's breeding season and it has only just completed its molt. Michael transferred him from aviary to cage over the weekend.

Golden Hawk is highly inbred, tracing his lineage back 14 years to my foundation male sire, Godfather.

It can be seen from the video that he is in excellent condition and exemplifies what can be achieved with good genes and proper care and nutrition during the molt.




BTW, I have been asked why I named one of Falcon's sons, "King David". No, he was not named after me.  He derives his name from a very famous racing pigeon named "King David", which was bred by the great American racing pigeon fancier, David Clausing.

Clausing's King David was not only a great winner in races but he was also a great sire. Below is a blurb from an auction of one of his sons.  It will be noted that the selling point of the young cock is that it ".. represents a concentration of genes for Clausing's older Houben, King David."It is necessary that the birds be inbred so that there will be a "concentration of genes"as this will increase the likelihood of the desirable characteristics being passed on to the offspring. 


Auction Home : Breeders

 Auction Detail 
  
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AU2012 FVC 4549 BBC 
Item #: 119112
Description: Cock Inbred to the Famous and Expensive Houben, 'KING DAVID'. AU2012 FVC 4549 BBC represents a concentration of genes for Clausing's older Houben, KING DAVID. This pigeon was sold for many thousands of dollars by Clausing when KING DAVID was already 10 years old. KING DAVID was the sire to Hall of Fame pigeons "Anna Marie" and "Early Retirement". He also bred David his first Million Dollar ACE Bird. In fact, KING DAVID was sire to "ACE Birds on 3 Continents." This was the original bloodline that brought worldwide attention to David Clausing. KING DAVID was the son of ZIKO and obviously the best son when David still owned him. This bloodline has been responsible for breeding us winners from 100 to 604 miles in 2000 bird competition.
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The story of David Clausing and his racing pigeons can be read at:
http://www.silvio-co.com/pigeons/pdf/Clausing-article-July-9th.pdf.

It is an established fact that to consistently breed wonderful birds, there must be inbreeding and line-breeding carried out knowledgeably and systematically.  Birds with the desired characteristics must be selected as initial stock for breeding and mated to give them the chance to prove their worth as breeders. Most of matings will only produce "ordinary" progeny.  The very few matings that beget wonderful progeny will suggest that the male and/or female of the pair has promise but the birds should be repeatedly tested to establish if they are prepotent. If the progeny of a bird is also able to produce wonderful birds, it has established that it deserves to be foundation stock. This is what I have tried to achieve with my bloodline.

Last year, I was fortunate to be able to add Falcon to my very small number of males that have proved that they are able to consistently produce great birds.  Falcon produced 6 males last year and I still have 4 which I intend to retain so that I can test their genetic potential.

Foremost in my stable of breeders is Ballet Dancer.  He is now 13 years old but still producing as well as he did when he was much younger.  Two great birds that he produced last year were Samson and Curve. I also have Pretty Boy and Falcon's father, Skyhawk amongst my top breeders. Pretty Boy produced Mint and others last year while Skyhawk produced a bunch of chicks but these are still too young to accurately assess their potential.

Finally, I have Apache.  He has produced wonderful male shamas such as Cochise, Piston and Funkie.  Apache has not produced anything for the past 3 breeding seasons. For this year, I am taking pains to try to get chicks from him. He has been paired with the most productive female that I have and they have been given the largest and most suitable aviary for breeding. The female has laid 4 eggs and commenced brooding today. I have seen the pair courting and mating so I have every hope that the eggs will be fertile.  If all the eggs are infertile, I suppose I will need to consider retiring Apache from breeding.

Yesterday, I gave in to the temptation to temporarily transfer one of Falcon's sons to a cage to enable me to assess its potential although its tails, which are presently about 11", have not completed their growth.  My helper, who cares for the birds and knows them better than I do, cautioned against putting him in a cage as he might be a bit wild and his tails could be damaged.  I nevertheless lured him into a cage.

I took a quick assessment and immediately returned him to the aviary.  I had previously thought that he would be desirable to have but when I saw his display in the cage, I knew that he had the potential to be outstanding and I was afraid that he might damage his tails by fluttering around in the small cage I had used to trap him. Needless to say, he made my day. There is much to look forward to in my shamas for 2015.

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Apache courting Alpha's daughter

January 5, 2015, 4:58 pm
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DDS272

January 6, 2015, 5:16 pm
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Curve

January 8, 2015, 5:10 pm
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My shama breeding last year was the best ever.  Many chicks were bred from the few pairs that I had carefully selected. The results have been gratifying as the overall quality of their chicks has been extremely high and met expectations.

I breed shamas only as a hobby and since I do not need to produce shamas for financial reasons, my aim is always to produce quality and not quantity.  My birds are never randomly paired merely because they are capable of reproducing. Instead, they are selected for breeding because they have proven their worth as breeders of quality offspring or because they have the potential to advance the quality of song, structure, display, character and courage of their offspring.

The full extent of the quality of my chicks from last year will only be known over the next 6 months as this is the time required for the many chicks that were hatched late last year to complete their development and molt.

Of the few young males that have molted, my favourite is Ballet Dancer's son, Curve.  He is not yet 7 months of age but his structure, song and display are already eye-catching.  He reminds me of Long Bow, a favourite of mine some years ago who has passed away.

I posted Curve's photo on this blog on 31 December. Since then, his primary tails have lengthened significantly and I am not sure if they have stopped growing. I will wait another 1 or 2 weeks before I start his training.

Below are photos of Curve as of yesterday.

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Crop of above photo:
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Skyhawk's son

January 11, 2015, 6:45 pm
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This is DDS405 at 36 days of age.  He is a son of Skyhawk from a nest of 3 males and 1 female.  All the 3 males look alike attesting to Skyhawk's prepotency as a breeder.
[click on photo once for enlargement]
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