FOCUS - A Bird's Cages & Accessories Seller

I have visited a bird market, Bratang, in Surabaya couple days ago. I got little chit-chat with some sellers, which becoming good friends of mine since more than a decade ago. I have no aim to go there, I just miss them, and it is been so long I did not came to visit this bird market. I have been busy with the job I worked last year. Even my farm has to be disbanded or frozen for a while because of that.

This one is 'Focus', which specialize in providing quality bird cages, especially the artist made cage [with full relief carved all over] delivered from Solo or Jepara. Those places were famously branded as the best place that breeds so many carver or engraver artists since last age, after the Balinese. Their engraves products were well known better than any other places in Indonesia, more detail, smoother and much more raises 3D effect. Of course the finishes also has pure effect at the final stage.
In the store I can see some plain paint finished cages in many colors and I could see that those are surely high quality cages [ups, please consider that the price is always follows the quality ... isn't right? lol ...]

Some cages accessories also available and stored in the display cupboard. I could see cage curtain, hook/hangers, clipper, perch & socket, carved bit, etc. in there. Unfortunately I could not find a lot of engraved cages at this time, there were only several cages of that kind is available. When I asked why there is only limited commerce to the seller, he said the the order was booked but the products were not delivered yet, may in the next couple weeks it will transported from Solo. Hopefully I will have time and chance to capture some pictures of those cages later.

The seller was my colleague. I met him first time in 1999. He came to my farm that time, looking for a yellow rumped serins, lets called it 'black throat' chick, a cock one. He got a good one chick from me. Since that time, he was becoming a good friend of mine then. Usually I met him in Bratang bird market or when I go to the bird exhibition in Surabaya or Malang area, where he also put his commerce cages and accessories in the occasional bazaar. For several times I bought birds from him and he delivered it and also visited to my residence.

Kupang Birds Market, Surabaya

The pictures is showing how the Kupang Bird Market, in Surabaya, is looks like. It is not a permanent bird market. The place looks so dirty, not because of the trash, but the non permanent building they made is so bad. Doesn't seems neat. Not well organized. I think someone or the authorized body/government shall look at this side and takes action for making it looks better. This place shall requires a very big improvements.
The picture is taken in early of May 2009. The view is still the same as 20 to 30 years ago, an exception I may noted is only for the number of bird sellers, it is might had been increased or decreased. I am not really sure about that. This conditions also applied to the traded birds kinds. Some kind of traded birds is already banished, such as some imported birds like Hwa Mei or Melodius Laughing Thrush [Leucodioptron Canorum, formerly Garrulax Canorus], Poksay or Black Throated Laughing Thrush [Garrulac Chinensis], Sanma or Grey-Side Laughing Thrush [Garrulax Caerulatus], some Robins, etc. Since 90's, some new bird kinds were exposed and exploited, some is still exist and the others was ended into the blue.
In the picture, we can see the left side is temporary birds market and the right side is the parking area. Formerly, both sides of the road is full with bird sellers since 90's. After 00's, in 2007, the yard on the right side was used to be built a commercials building, it seems a mall I think, so they had to move from there. Today, the building's construction will be finished and I am sure that all the bird sellers will be moved also as soon as the grand opening of the building. The other road, next to this, is also used as the bird market, the original one before. It is will stays there as the 80's era.

In this present day, the bird sellers are not just selling birds, they also sells cages as well as they are selling the birds. Even the number of the cages they are selling for the time being is as much as the birds it self. It was a funny phenomenon. Shall we call it birds market, or now we shall call it bird's cages market? LoL. The cages they sell are only the second or lower grade in quality and price. For sure, you will not be able to find any best quality cages in here. Even the birds they sells, most of the birds available in here is the raw materials, the chicks or the wild caught. For quiet sometimes, if you are patient enough to check it one by one, or takes some time to look around as approaches, in such a fortune way, you may find a good one. A quality bird for exhibition purpose. Only if you will gives an effort.
Bird's food also available in here. The most famous quality bird's food in Kupang bird market were the white type Banana and the Ant's Egg. If in the other bird markets in Surabaya you can not find good Banana, so you must try this place then. The Ant's Egg, it is a must bird food, especially for the carnivora birds, which takes insect as the main food. In this place, the Ant's Eggs are the best in quality. But do not forget the Economy Law, the price goes along the quality.

The last image, it shows some big cages contains munias. The white breast munias and brown streaks breast munias, the common munias in Java origin. These birds usually will be bought by childrens, as some [stupid] bird sellers are using water base colors for coloring them, to make it full of colors and try to make or attract the kids are to be interested to buy. In the end of 90's, some weaver's kinds also sold in here [it is rare now] for the children's market also. As the years passed by, some bird lovers had learnt that the weaver could sing as well as the other singing birds. If the weavers are tamed since they were chick for then they were placed near a patron bird, absolutely they will sing the same song kind when they reach the adult age. It is also increase up the price of the weavers as it is also made the weavers became one of the favourite birds, a collectable.
I have visited this bird market last month and I found some chicks of the Asian Pied Starlings, Orange Headed Thrush and Chesnut-Caped Thrush in there. I bought an Asian Pied Starling at that time, a month old chick with a ring around its leg, as it is made me sure that the bird is a product of a farm and not a wild caught.

Splendid, a Birds Market

First time I re-started my hobby, Ornithology, in Malang, when I was a student in my fourth year in Institute, after I had stopped having and caring birds for a few years before. It was early 1993. That time also the early days of the birds market named Splendid was just opened. The seller had to move their birds from their old place [Comboran] that time, re-located, as instructed by the local government. This is what I could remember.

The place was not fully occupied yet, at the first day I came to the place. I started to buy one or two birds and started to know each other with some bird sellers. I remember those days I bought White-Rumped Shama or people used to called it Murray [Copsycus Malabaricus], Orange-Headed Thrush [Zoothera Citrina], Straw-Headed Bulbul [Pycnototus Zeylanicus]. I also still remember that the Orange-Headed Thrush was the first one I have of the kind I never had before and it was the best one until today, which I never ever had a chance to have the same quality like that again. Until I spent a lot of money, took time to find, with a zero result. Today, I still do regret why I should sell that bird. As I do remember, it had a lot of good song that came from other bird’s songs it replicated, lot of variances, brave to sing in any conditions, loud sound, very smart to record and duplicate other bird sound in short period and other good things from a quality bird.

The time being, the bird market had grown about three times bigger; it also means that the cash flows are getting bigger. It had peak around 1997 until 2003. The transactions seems goes down in early 2005, as the bird influenza became an issue and swept down a lot of bird lover interest, closed the gate of the imported birds and so the opponent [exported]. In addition of that, government also released some warning and regulation about the bird influenza, which restraint some bird’s market interest. The economic also took influence in 2005; the global oil rate gave impact.

This place also became the parameter of the Canary birds trading, covering the price/rate, the demand, the producer, etc. This market also was the biggest Canary center in Indonesia as many people in Malang became the Canary Breeder. They had distributed the product to entire cities and place in Indonesia, especially to Sumatera through Jakarta, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Bali as the biggest Canary consumer.

The weather and climate in Malang was very good and gave optimum conditions for the Canary breeding. It also supported by the social condition and behavior, where the people, especially the ornithologist and not least the opportunist [the pop up breeder] were running the small to large bird farms.

In this current date, the biggest cash of the birds trading were come from the trading of the Canary birds. That was the fact today. Just check it out. You can also get a very fair price of the Canary bird in Malang, especially in the Splendid bird market where the Canary birds are collected and pooled from around the town and countries.

Visit the market as I told the story on above and prove it… it will be a good experience to you. I guarantee that. Do not forget, I suggest you to come in Saturday and much better in Sunday, when the trading volume and the stock are fully larger. Good luck in hunting a quality birds in there… [ups, you can call me if you need further more info..]