Update on longtailed mockingbird

10/27/09:  The bird is much calmer than before.  He took a bath in bird bath cage couple days ago.  Still no singing or making any sound yet.  Begins to eat Mazzuri pellets and parrots fruit sense pellets beside regular feed of mealworms daily.

After a week of keeping the bird, so far the bird is still nervous when I come near the cage.  If I stand about few steps away, he will calm down.  I give him mealworms, superworm, waxworm, cricket, cockroaches, earthworm, pellets, and grape fruit during this first week, but so far he only eat mealworms.  I also allow him to access to bath cage every other day, but he did not take the bath.  I heard from a person who has long experiences in bird keeping that mockingbird like apple, so I'll try to offer him apple this week to see if he will eat or not.  Hopefully he will adjust to the new life soon.

Here is some of the songs of this bird recorded in its native land:
http://www.xeno-canto.org/sounds/uploaded/AEFZWKWLMO/Laqui158MimLon.mp3

http://www.xeno-canto.org/sounds/uploaded/XRABICUARW/003-044-Long-tailed-Mockingbird.mp3

http://www.xeno-canto.org/sounds/uploaded/IODAFNJGEM/Long%20tailed%20mockingbird%20el%20Tocto.mp3

Longtailed Mockingbird - Mimus Longicaudatus

Identifications:
A medium-sized songbird, a bit more slender than a thrush and with a longer tail. Mockingbirds have small heads, a long, thin bill with a hint of a downward curve, and long legs. Their wings are short, rounded, and broad, making the tail seem particularly long in flight.Mockingbirds are overall gray-brown, paler on the breast and belly, with two white wingbars on each wing. A white patch in each wing is often visible on perched birds, and in flight these become large white flashes. The white outer tail feathers are also flashy in flight.  (from birdexpress.net)
 
I accquire this bird on 10/10/09.  I want the male and the shop tried to give me what I want but no guarantee as both male and female are looked alike.  So far the bird is calm but little nervous when I stand infront of the cage. He jumps around the cage whenever I come near but not in a panic/blindly jumping to cause any harm to himself.  He eat few crickets, and small mealworms as far as I see.  Hopefully when he gets use to the cage and start eating pellets, he will sing which is the main objective why I accquire this longtailed mockingbird.  My shama can learn new song from this bird.
 

Main supplements for White-rumped Shama

This is the list of all the supplements that I use for Shama. The main supplement that everyone should have all the time (unless you can duplicate exactly what shama eating in the wild) is Vitamin B complex. In breeding season, Calcium is very important especially for the female. Not enough reserve calcium in the body to form egg can cause soft egg shell, egg binding, or death in the female.  Multi-vitamine is another the supplement that need to keep the bird healthy.  These are the big three supplements that everyone who keeps Shama should have at all time.

Shama from Korea

One of the shama lover in Korea, Kihyung, send me the picture of his bird. According to him, keeping shama in Korea is very hard as there isn't much people keeing shama and commercial dry food is very hard to find.

Please click at the picture to see bigger image