Bush 'Branjangan' Lark [Mirarva Javanicus]

Bush Lark, Mirarva Javanicus,or Branjangan in Indonesia name, was the most amazing and also the only ground bird, which used to be a collection pet bird in Indonesia. They had an amazing songs, loud sound [consider its small body size] and the most important is the way they acts when singing songs. They can singing while flying. The 'flying' is very funny as they fly almost only vertically, they could not do the horizontal direction as the other common birds. They use their foots rather than use the wings. That is the reason why they had been classified as the ground bird.

The pictures here I presented on the right side is my collection, the one and only one bush lark I had for the time being. I think I will collect another one, but regarding the number of the bird collections I had now, I have to re-consider that, I did not have much more time for daily activity for taking care of them all. Maybe later ...

The bird is seems not came from Java regarding its color, size and the physical acts [see and compare the other smaller pictures I attached - I forgot where these 2 pictures I get down loaded - maybe in 2005 when I stayed in Jakarta]. The color is too dark, too many brown. The size looks smaller than the Java's. The last one, usually bush lark from Java used to raise their cap feathers if they are male and adults, almost all the time. And this one I had was not like that. Seem it came from Nusa Tenggara or other islands near Bali [or the islands more to the east].

The first time I colect this bird kind was in 1996, or earlier .. I collected a couple. The one I get in Surabaya in 2001 was the greatest one. It came from a bird collector, which used it for bird exhibition or championship purpose. So, we shall know what quality bird was that. The bird was very dare to sing, in any time and any conditions. The sound was a super mega loud. The songs were quiet unique as I had made it records all the sounds I played from the electronic device, from CD player and also patronizing it by other birds such as Love Birds, Starling [Sturnus Contra], Prinias, and other common patron birds.

When I moved to Jakarta in 2005, I put the bird in my family hand. It did not get a good daily care/treatment for almost 2 years. So, in the end of 2006 I decided to transfer it to the care of a friend of mine, a bird lover, a collector, in Jakarta. His name is Mr. Widodo Lestari.
I brought the bird from Surabaya to Jakarta that time by night train, received by Mr. Wid @ 7 Jakarta time in Gambir, the Train Station. He had captured this bird acts once after he had this bird. I attached the short video capture for you can see it in here below.



Seems this gentleman still keep this bird for his collection until today. Unfortunaley, in the next couple weeks after I delivered the bird to the hand of Mr. Wid, I had received notification that I should moved back to Surabaya ... what a life.

The bird in the video was singing loudly while stretching its wings and vibrate it. It means it is threatening gesture toward other bush lark [other bird near by]. An invitation for a fight. As long as I have been informed by Mr. Wid, he also already had several bush lark stored in the same house. So, you can imagine what kind of sound he heard everyday if all of his bush lark are singing together in the same time. hohoho ... it must be very crowd, noisy and breaking the ears ...

Just look and see what is the cage for the bush lark is looks like. Refer to the way this bird fly and acts when it is singing, the cage for this bird also had unique design. The cage is tall enough to give a room and space for bird to fly vertically. The shape can be round or square. In the base of the cage, it must be flat and plain. The Sands or other coarse material should be put in a thin layer, as the bird has a unique behavior. They used to use the sand for bathing. Usually in the wild, this activity worked for the purpose of departing the mite or lice hide in their feather. The sands or ashes from ants nest are sometimes producing gas, which the mite or lice does not like it. In the middle of the cage's bottom, a vertical perch with a stone mounted on its top for the bird to rest their feet while sun bathing.

The birds exhibition or championship in Indonesia had been excluded this bird kind from the list since around 2003. This made the demand for this bird in Indonesia's market drastically goes down. The bird sellers does not in a rush no more to provide this bird. The collector who wants now collect this bird will meet a little bit difficulties to find a quality bird. Not so many quality birds are available in the market. I have checked this when I tried to find a good one last time. And if there any quality bush lark in the bird seller's hand, so it must be very high price they will offer it to the buyer.