Friday, January 30, 2026
Sunday, August 11, 2024
MEET THE SQUBS !!!!!
MEET THE SQUBS !!!!
These are among the most contentious and fun of all the shamas we have known! They are the 2nd clutch of 2024 to parents "Brownie" and "Shama" And yes there are stories behind those prosaic names!
To see them in best resolution click on the link and then on "youtube"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQxPjZoUHhQ
Saturday, November 12, 2022
Scruffy is Annoyed New. Shamas Moved In!
Scruffy, the Bulbul would watch Bird and Birdlet, our prior Shama Pair get delicious meal worms on the balcony. But he was too timid at first. But once they were gone he was SO happy he now eats happily at the Maunawili Mealworm Bar! But then... ta dumm.. new Shamas moved in and a betrayal is occuring! Yep Don is feeding the Shamas. This so annoys Scruffy that we can hear him scolding Don loudly while sitting on the balcony. Even when DJ comes out he sometimes continues. Here is a brief clip of him enjoying his mealworms.
To watch this in best view change the speed on Youtube to 1080
Monday, October 10, 2022
Introducing Sammy and Sally !!! The new pair who have adopted our yard as their habitat !!! Oct 2022
So thrilled to announce that Sammy and his bride apparent have adopted our yard! We went for several months Shama-less. So empty. BUT Don has been spending the last few weeks bribing Sammy and Sally with mealworms to convince them that this is the place to be.
More details to follow.
Photos and video to come!
Tuesday, May 10, 2022
Monday, March 28, 2022
We are in mourning. Birdlet has disappeared... presumed dead.. leaving two chicks to an uncertain fate.. and ending our era of Shama dramas (?) Link to her last video below
Birdlet's 13 clutch fledged one week ago. All was initially well with 2 very active chicks. Bird (father) and Birdlet (mom) were both devotedly feeding them at first. Then Bird stopped as he was preoccupied defending his territory. Very distressingly, another male Shama was coming into the heart of the territory and Bird was frantic to eject him. When it finally flew away he was apparently amped up and viscously attacked Birdlet (the mom ) while she was attempting to feed the chicks. Was this re-directed aggression? Or is he now getting older and either mentally or physically unable to tell who she is? Oddly, just days before that he was allowing her to eat at the same time in the kitchen, which he does not do in non-breeding season. This time, instead of deferring to him, she fought back in order to continue to care for her chicks. And then, sadly she disappeared the next day. Being a very devoted mother who was coming into the kitchen 5 times plus per day for mealworms and also finding outside foods, she is presumed dead. She would not have abandoned or ignored the peeping of these chicks. While it could have been a toxin, it is likely she was killed by Bird, her mate.
The future does not look bright for the chicks. Bird is NOT feeding them.
Oddly (to us humans) there now appears to be 5 male Shamas in the lower forest area of our yard who are singing loudly. Are they auditioning for a female or having a vocal debate on who deserves to take over from Bird? Bird came into the kitchen for his meal then flew straight out instead of around his territory. He went up Maunawili Road. Has he been displaced? So troubling.
We have befriended this pair and over 30 chicks over 3 years. The pair came faithfully every day for mealworms. Every day. Often 5 times a day one or the other would be sitting on Don's hand enjoying a rest and a meal. Now there is no Birdlet.
This is so sad and we are in mourning.
Has anyone else observed a male Shama attacking his mate?
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