WILL NIM BE READY IN TIME?

Sometimes, I am not quite sure if the female shama is merely a passive party awaiting to be wooed during the courtship. Lorraine was observed yesterday to be repeatedly taking off from the perch and making quick u-turns in mid-air to return back to the perch. This type of flight in the presence of a male, I would think, signals the female's readiness to breed, although so far I have not seen any males reacting to it.

The following is David's point of view, extracted from an email I received from him:

"The female shama in top breeding condition tends to exhibit a distinctive flight pattern that is quite different from her normal flight. Usually, in the confines of an aviary, the shama (male or female) will fly from perch to perch and from floor to perch. In other words, there is purpose in the flight - to travel from place to place. However, the female that is really ready to mate, when in the company of the male, frequently flies from her perch in a quick but seemingly fluttering flight that takes an elliptical loop and returns her to about the same place on the perch without her first landing anywhere else. She may do this again and again. Her action seems reflexive and pointless as, all the while, the male appears unconcerned with her antics. The lack of reaction from the male suggests that such flights are not part of a courtship display or intended to stimulate the male's sexual interest. I am not sure of the function of such flights in the mating process and only wish to observe at this time that the ready female will tend to have such flight patterns. "

(Perhaps, if Lorraine could learn to sashay like the sexy lady passing by DDS , she too would succced in arousing Nim).






















Lorraine was very busy throughout this morning building the nest from the nesting materials provided. I hope Nim is up to it.