Pasar Burung Balekambang Solo (Birds Market in Solo)

The Video Clip is available by clicking this

This time I had to go to the Mid Java province, to a asestic nuns retreat, a hermitage, in Salatiga - named Pertapaan Gedono, (as it is said in the sign, first established in 80's by Romo Mangun, a catholic father), to check their roof problems. I took around 10 hours of driving from Surabaya, close to 650 km in road distance - pretty tired for doing that way ... but I have to do it anyway and for sure, the trip should have been amazing, since it is been a long time I did not going through those roadways.

The trip was truly interesting, passing by some small and little big cities, from East to Mid of Java province. One of the city that we shall through is Solo, a very important city in Mid Java, where at least around 60% of the money and business is traded in daily basis. I used to live in this city in 90's, so I knew there is a big birds market in there. So, I told my friend, my partner in driving, to visit this birds market if we have a little time in way back home then. He agreed and we just looked for that place, since I have forgot the place, did not have idea to what direction it was, but the place is near the bus terminal as I remember. We tried to find it in the evening, when we are passing the Solo city. Absolutely we are blind in there and the place was never been found. So we planned to start again to find it during the trip in the way back home later. So, once we have done the real business, we are going back to find where the birds market is located. After a while, taking effort to ask some persons in roadside, then we we are now in the Balekambang, in the birds market. As usual, it is normally found in the whole birds market in Indonesia, you will not only find birds kind in there. You will also can find other animals or pets in there, such as fox, rabbits, hamsters, white mice, several cats kind, fishes and its equipment, etc.

Actually the place is great, but it is not neat and untidy. Not well organized and sure not well managed in terms of health, safety, hygiens, comfortness and very hot!!! The management should take action, prior to start plantation, the big one. The trees, to let the environment is getting cooler in there (see the other article, find pictures of Birds Market in Jogjakarta: , where a lot of big trees inside the birds market area. In Balekambang, the parking area and the system is terrible. A nightmare. It is located around the place and looked very untidy and not well organized, even I can not find a parking lot. They parking motorcycle, bike, car and other vehicle everywhere, with no good arrangement.

The outer side are placed 1 story buildings, surrounding, couple type, back to back kiosks. Facing the roads around the location, are where the kisoks of the cages and accessories seller, some of them also selling birds, but not too much. And facing the inside, most of them are selling birds.

The soffit screen of the building's roof, made from wood, have no finishes, a plain wood color and make it seems like unfinished building construction. In my opinion, they should put some paint or other finishes to give a 'color' ... it also will protect the wood from the effect of the wheather, to make it more lasting. Climate and wheather in Indonesia are very extreme, especially in the humidity and the rain fall, which very often and almost happen to whole months of a year.

The inside buildings are 2 stories, made from concrete and brick masonry, looks like it is new building and not so long/just occupied. The kiosk is smaller and they are selling the birds mostly, not mentioning they are also selling other stuff, like cages and other pet animals. There are at least 2 staircase, made from concrete, to go to up stair to the second floor.

The building is closing square, with same couple back to back type of kiosks. In the middle, as a core, there is an elevated place, soil paved, with at least 2 meters high from the first floor surface level. This area is used as a place for hanging the birds in daily, and seems can be used as a place for weekly birds exhibition. As it seen in the picture, severals love birds are hung in there, for sun bathing. Again, as I have mentioned previously, they should put trees in there ....

Walking down the alley, the pavement is using paving block in simple pattern of grey color, small ditches located in both edges of the pedestrian with tiny looks fragile steel grating on top it. Along the pedestrian, placed kiosks of sellers who provides many kind of birds. I can recognize some kind of pigeons in somany races and doves, such as ground dove, zebra dove, indian dove, etc., then kind of parrots, class of copsychus, pynonotidae family like Pycnonotus aurigaster, Pycnonotus zeylanicus, Pycnonotus goiavier, and other pycnonotus that common available in Java, then some thrushes in zoothera genus such as orange headed thrush, chestnut-capped thrush, both the most common preffered thrush in Java. And also a lot of other common birds in Java, Sumatera and Kalimantan islands are available and easy to find in here.

Going to inside from outside part of this area is through the short corridors under the second floor slab, with nice white ceramic floor-finishes, I can see some bigger cage from steel material that commonly used for red junggle fowl subspecies or other bigger birds like Java Mynah, King Parrots or Caccatua. Those cages are stored in along the corridor, which I can not tolerate that way: they should not put it in there, because it is taking the right of the pedestrian, beside it will looked untidy anyway.

In the middle of the building, some cages contains love birds are being hung to get some sunrays for sun bathing, to keep the fit, instead of to be still kept in the kiosk, which it is not unhealthy. It is very common for the birds to be taken care in the morning by feeding, cleaning, water spray or water cage bathing then followed by drying under the sun exposure (sun bathing). I think this is very nice to have this area, where a series of hanger made from steel pipe at the certain elevation/level for hanging birds were prepared and ready to be used for the purpose of sun bathing, promoting/trading and also for exhibition in small scale.

Getting in to the cages hanging area, we have to go up using the stone masonry stair, a very nice and looks natural. More than ten stair cases to be stepped and ended in the area, where there is a concrete pedestrian separating paved soils that now being planted with grass (at least it looks a little bit different to see it green in the middle of the crowd)

Inside the inner building, going up to the second floor, I found some sellers are providing some kind of finches. Especially the singing finch, as Yellow Rumped Seeds Eater (Black Throated Canary), White Rumped Seeds Eater (Grey Singer), Green Singer, etc. Usually they are imported from overseas country, from legal breeder or illegally from the wild. I assume that by looking their behaviour, which is not tamed at all, the thing that opposite if the birds are coming from local breeder, which they mostly breeding them in a pair in small breeding cage instead of in big aviary like what the European Breeder did.

Some of them are looks very good in health, the feathers are clean and kept tidy. Some birds looks unhealth, with laid wings and not neat feathers. A little tips for you to choose birds you want to buy, check first the feathers to ensure they are fit, then, if it is not forbidden, catch them by hand, hold it and check the eyes, the fingers and nails, the bottom part/belly, which sometimes shows the disease, the fat, the age, and last but not least, check how it breaths by putting the beak in your ear, make sure that no sound heard that meaning the bird has no respiration problem or being ill or sick from a disease.

I also see the 'raw materials' such as the chicks of orange headed thrush, hundreds of asian pied starling chicks, 3 months old love birds in so many colors variation.