Hwa Mei - Melodius Laughing Thrush [Garrulax Cannorus]

Surprisingly, last year I heard around 11 birds of this kind has arrived in a bird market in Surabaya, but unfortunately I had no chance to get one of it. The news I heard was too late for me to catch it. Fortunately, there is another wave is coming and now I have a chance to get it.
I choose to take a pair, a couple of Hwa Mei. Those birds are wild, just like a new catch from the wild in China. No smooth and complete feather and absolutely they don't sing as you imagine.

I used to take care a lot of hwa mei many years ago and today I think I will put a same treatment as it used to be.


The birds are very wild at the first time they arrived at home. I have to catch the male, since I have to do some manicures (whoooa ...) on its nails and beaks, which already too long and can harm it self. After the exercise, the male is getting more wild and wild, seems it got stressed. So, I decide not do the same treatment to the female.
I take another option to prevent the nails from growing to much, by changing the perch from the previous (using Tamarind wood branch, which famously and always used for the caged bird in Indonesia, instead of other materials) and becoming pre-treated round-shape fabricated wood with glued sand underneath. The nails will be automatically sand-paper treated likes, everytime they jump or the fingers hold on it. They are now being tamed a little bit, especially the female. The male is still affraid when a person is closing to them or taking/bring their cage down, still looks too wild.


After the sixth month, both birds were reached adult age, getting attracted to each other. Everytime I separate them, or moving one of them to another place to hang its cage, they just apparently singing. The male is also singing more often everyday, it is a good sign that they have been tamed or adapted to the environment.
I also started to put the male to a round shape cage. The cage is a common shape and size, which usually been used in China or other place as it is origin. I can not find a daily use cage with this model in the market right now, especially the model and finishes according to what I want to, so when a friend offer me a used cage, I decided to take the offer. I brought the cage from Malang, where it came from, and put this to a specialist for re-build it, since the cage is broken, no bottom parts, no common accessories left from it. It been done within 2 weeks later then and I put the accessories on it, such as the hanger (steel), the clipper/locking (stainless plate), the feeding bowls, the perch, the carpet, etc. (By the way, the 'Batman' logo is very ugly, I think ...) Actually, the cage is very small for this bird kind, I think, but this is the most effective way to tame it. I still did not get a chance to find the cage for the female, the good one, so it still be placed in a square small cage. it does not matter, since the female is more tamed than the male.

I took a short video capture of this male Hwa Mei for you to have an idea how it is looks like right now, after six months of treatment and taking care of them, as seen by clicking this short cut: Finchpolis on Youtube, and check it out ...

Jogjakarta - New Birds Market

3 years ago, I have a good chance to visit Jogjakarta, copied from Wiki 'a city and the capital of Yogyakarta Special Region in Java, Indonesia. It is renowned as a centre of classical Javanese fine art and culture such as batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry, and puppet shows. Yogyakarta was the Indonesian capital during the Indonesian National Revolution from 1945 to 1949. One of the districts in Yogyakarta, Kotagede, was the capital of the Mataram Sultanate between 1575 and 1640. The city is named after the Indian city of Ayodhya from the Ramayana epic. Yogya means 'suitable, fit, proper', and karta, 'prosperous, flourishing' (i.e., 'a city that is fit to prosper').[2]', during my course session for 'Oil & Gas Contractor', held by ESDM - Ministry of Energy & Minerals Resource. Absolutely, there's only 2 places I'd like to visit: the Birds Market and the famous 'Malioboro' street. I searched the information regarding the birds market and well informed that the previous 'Ngasem' birds market has been relocated and moved to a better place in the edge of the town, beside the main road between the city, area Dongkelan, Jl. Bantul KM 1, Yogyakarta. They named it 'Pasar Satwa dan Tanaman Hias Yogyakarta (PASTHY)'. Of course, near or in front of it (if I'm not wrong, as I remember) is where the Flower & Plants market is located. Looking at its name, actually it is not purely the birds market, since it is said the 'animals' market.

This first picture is showing how the previous Ngasem birds market looks like today. Barely almost empty from the activities as it is common in birds market, but some trader or seller are still hold on to this place. Surely the buyers are prefer to go to the big new one, except for some people who doesn't like to go more far and just buying small amount of bird food or something like that. Even the fishes and its equipment is still available in here. It is very common in Indonesia that every birds market, usually also available fishes and its equipment.

Some bird food sellers are like to stay to serve the people in this area and they should have permanent buyer or old customers, to let them alive and survive in here. They try to survive by serving the old customer near by or within the area, selling daily bird foods and some small stuff and cage's acessories

This is the face of the PASTHY, the birds/animals area, taken right from the Entrance Gate. The parking area seems neat, tidy, well paved and tens of cars can occupy the parking lots. even they made decoration in the parking pavement, marking the lot, drawing a bird shape and things like. It is not that beautiful, but I shall appreciate the effort for trying to. Nice, ehh ...

Entering the market area, there is separated walkway, quarry stones paved, with median made for garden/plantation and some big high aviary cages. A water fountain also seen in the middle of the garden, a small one and it is not activated. This walkway goes along the middle of the market, divide the market into two large area. Whether we go to the left side or right side, the whole area was fully occupied by the seller.

The walkway/pedestrian is branching, separating the seller's kiosks into blocks. No special allocation to each available block. There is area between the pedestrian and the kiosk, grass block paved. This area can be used for the seller to take care and maintain their goods, birds, or can be used for the trading place or show area. Most important, this area is a must in the birds market, since every bird requires sun bathing each day, especially in the morning, when the market started its activities. I found that this is rarely available in the common birds market I used to visit in Indonesia. I also found that garbage cans are available in every place. That's why this place is looked so clean, differs than any other birds market I ever visited.

I feel something's very different in here, more than visited other birds market. Very comfort. The place is very wide, among the garden, grass, plantation and big trees. This condition will not be found in other birds market. In Surabaya, the place is narrow, in the 1 and 2 stories building, with small size kiosks. In Jakarta, the biggest one, birds market in (Jalan) Pramuka street, even worst (or I might say the worst ever), the building's is 3 or 4 stories, the kiosks are smaller in size, the corridors are very narrow and the most uggly is the bird's waste. The waste is layering the corridor's floor and also the kiosk floor, since the place for hundreds of sellers with no appropriate garbage management. Imagine that, how many garbage and waste that should be cleaned in daily basis? More worst during the rainy season. I bet you could not stand the odors-smells it created.

Some corridors (whole corridors are open space, actually) are equiped with the place for hanging the birds. This will let the seller hang the cage in there and the buyer will take their time to watch, until the transaction is made and get deal. I believe all caged birds, even the wild one, will be happy and made their best appearance and sings their best songs ever!!

Almost all common traded birds are available in here. Even the imported bird kind, such as the parrots family. Especially the common and unrestricted birds, they will be found easily in here. Birds traded from Jakarta to Surabaya or from Sumatera island to Bali, through Java island. Landed in Jakarta city from Sumatera, going to Surabaya city before arrived in Bali. Those trip of trading commonly have to pass Solo city or Jogjakarta city. That's why we can find more easy birds kind in here rather in other city.