Budgie the Handfed Zebra Dove

This will be a little experimentation on taming a Zebra Dove. Just to see how far I can take it. Will name him Budgie for the purpose. Today, I took him out in the garden for a stroll. Nothing there to frighten it, so Budgie remained well behave. I think I will go get a foot string for Doves for safety sake & start venturing outdoor to get Budgie familiar with the outdoor.





After a brief intro to the night garden, I parked Budgie on an artificial plant to rest. Hopefully the amethyst pass on some positive energy to Budgie.




On another note, went to Wildlife Dept. today to enquire on a few things. Mission accomplished...... many things happening, can't say whether positive or not, but I am sanguine about it ;-)

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Ready made Aviaries

Bought 2 of these to house my Java Sparrows....








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Handfed Zebra Dove 2

The 2nd hanfed dove appears to be a tamer guy/gal. So I decided to give it extra space to see whether its wild nature will take over by placing it in a Shama cage.

Sign of a guy with too much time on hand and very boring social life?...... hahaha!





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Handfed Zebra Dove 1

On 17th July 2010, I blogged on handfeeding 2 Zebra Doves (now this is one good reason why I blog - a record keeping for me & a snapshot of my thoughts at the time).

Anyway, many things are happening all at the same time (bird related). All very exciting and all a milestone for the bird keeping community in Malaysia if it falls into place. That would be a topic for another day.

Meanwhile, back to the 2 handfed Zebra Doves. Both have grown up well and calling their typical signature songs. A little long, maybe it would shorten with age (new to me).

This one, I have decided to try and tame it the way people do with budgies & lovebirds - lots of handling, but I decided not to clip its wings. How far can they fly anyway. Most will find their way back. If not, it may be a good thing (stock reduction ;-))

It perched on my finger for a good 45 minutes (initially a little scared and fly all over the house) while I chit chatted over the phone with a friend (Whatsapp style). Am pleased with the progress for the first day in training.








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Re-inventing the Wheel

I have often been ask "why re-invent the wheel?" and always, the answer after some careful thought is "why not?".

In my opinion, the quest for a better food, better supplements, sun bathing hours, molting care etc. should never stop. Even if we fail at every step & turn, it would confirm the accepted mainstream method which in itself is a good thing too.

So, I am happy to learn of many attempts in improving food formulas for both seedeaters, fruiteaters, omnivours and insectivorous birds. A friend in Muar and another in Merlimau has reported some breakthroughs. I will normally, as usual get some and test it out even though I think I am already having some of the best food available. Also, a way to encourage them. But sometimes at RM45 per 500g.... can't test on too many birds :-D

But at times when they are mixing knowledge of herbs and health, it is worth pursuing.


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Bakri, Muar

A panoramic snapshot of competition venue in Bakri, Muar.




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An Idea

Sometimes things just pop to mind at the least unexpected moment. This time its on a theory on how to make a songbird more hardworking, better fighting spirit etc.

Anyway, like all things, it has to be tested out.


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Weight of Hwameis

Out of curiosity, I weighed my Hwameis today.

Male - 63g
Female - 60g

I think it is a good practice to have a healthy baseline weight for all birds (individualised of course). Have not thought out a good method to weigh the Shamas yet as tgeir cage is too big for my digital scale.

Extending the service to manageable Shamas....

Female 1 - 33g

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Spotted Dove - addition to the flock

Added another 2 Spotted Dove to the flock. So far, Lanun, my existing resident dove outshines them even though they are much more expensive birds.

Hope the new additions lives up to the expectation....




.... of not embarassing their new owner at the padang :D

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Switching food

I always have problem of getting fresh stock of Golden Cup Jambul food. So, as an experiment, I have switched them to richer food (NutraPro). Hopefully they do well on it. Anyway, as I give them a lot of fruits, I am not too worried.
I know of experts of these Bulbuls who feed their birds 100% fruits with an occasional grasshopper every now and then.


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Pride of a fruit seller

I have been buying fruits from a stall for a long time. Basically bananas (pisang nipah) and papayas for the bulbuls. It probably didn't cross the seller's mind that I was feeding them to the birds.

One day, out of curiosity, she commented that I appear to like the pisang nipah very much. Sheepishly, I told her its for the birds to eat. Immediately she became alarmed and ask me not to buy them. She offered me the over riped ones for free (in pic below). Not a bad deal.... as they are still of good enough quality & not rotten. I settled for a discounted deal as its for long term.

Well, she could have just keep quiet and sell me the usual stock. But I suppose a sense of pride of her fresh & beautiful fruits preceeds other considerations ;-)





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Recorded song of an interesting songbird

Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

I think this is an interesting song of an unknown bird. And testing an interesting way to embed songs rather than videos ;-)

Experiment with the seedeaters

A friend claimed that he has the perfect formula for the Merboks - to make them less likely to "cracked their voice when they are pitching and to make them more hardworking. Millets soaked in some Chinese herbal medicine and sun dried.
Well, the saying goes about the taste of the pudding is in the eating.... or something to that extend ;-)

Switched 2 Merboks, 1 Tekukur & 1 Canary to it and will observe over time (3 weeks). Can't just be playing the role of the mad scientist on insectivores. Must give the seedeaters a chance too muahahaha!

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22 years old history

A friend wanted to pass me some trophies he unearthed when he was doing some spring cleaning in conjunction with the wedding of his daughter. I just took one just to compare the designs of past trophies with current new ones. At 9th position for the Hwamei 22 years ago, the logo of the bird is quite well preserved.
Well, 22 years doesn't qualify for antique status, but still a page or rather a token from the past ;-)








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Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716) - 0n Straw-headed Bulbul

Finally had time to take a glimpse on the new act - Wildlife Conservation Act 2010.
I am no lawyer and what and how I interpret the Act cannot be taken as legal counsel hehehe! - well, I am sure there are no fools out there that believe me totally, but just in case ;-)

Now, after getting fired up by the restrictive Act, I finally saw some light in it. At least for the wild population of Straw-headed Bulbul (SHB) and as a deterrent to the SHB trappers/ would be trappers. Section 68 (2) (b) spells out the minimum penalty upon conviction of hunting or keeping a SHB without a special permit - not less than RM30,000 and not more than RM100,000.

Well, if I am a trapper, it would definitely deters me. See, even if the judge takes pity on me and try to impose a light penalty, it cannot be less than RM30k

Even if the Director General takes pity, Section 126 (2) prohibits the above offence from being compoundable.

There!...... some light of hope for the Straw-headed Bulbul. Penalty is so scarry that I may not need to worry about my captive breeding project of Straw-headed Bulbul :-D
Anyway, if they allow me.... hmmm still would be a worthwhile effort :-)