White-headed Nuns, anyone?

[lovezebs]

MariusStegmann

What are Silver/Blue Stars like? I have never even seen pictures of them (nor heard of them before).

[w.l.]

lovezebs

I didn't bring home any as I have long had 4 already.
One has lost a leg though so maybe get one to make up for that?

What I did bring home are 2 spice finches that are said to have come mixed with them from Sumatra. Never seen that subspecies before and want to carefully compare with the Javans. I got them for "up to you" - so I paid 80 cents,a bit over 3 times what locally caught spice cost.

[isobea]

w.l. - Yes, I think you should 'rescue' one of those black heads. You couldn't possibly save all of them but make a difference in the life of that one - it will be pampered from now on. Since males and females look alike, does it matter what you will choose as your fifth one? Do they ever breed for you? Do you even want them to?
And what do the new Sumatran spice finches look like?

lovezebs - I also am curious what blue/silver stars look like. I've never heard of them.

[lovezebs]

w.l.

Sumatran Spices....sounds very exotic indeed
Have you managed to snap any pictures of them yet?

Congratulations

[w.l.]

w.l.

Sumatran Spices....sounds very exotic indeed
Have you managed to snap any pictures of them yet?

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[w.l.]

isobea

Will think about buying a young one - there are a few not fully colored yet.
Never bred these. I think they'd need an aviary of their own, or at least a less crowded one. I'd like to see them breed, but they are not high enough priority to be given their own aviary.
Incidentally, I consider this subspecies of Black-heads the most beatiful of all.
They are all brown on the underside, have pure black head and yellowish tail.
Other subspecies have black on belly, somewhat paler head and brown tail.

[isobea]

w.l. - Thanks for the pictures of your new spice finches. Very pretty and lighter colored backs and brownish edge on the scaly chest feathers than the ones we have here. You had me going to the drawings of the different sub-species in the munia book and I have to admit it's very confusing to me - such subtle differences. I don't know how you do it.
About those black-headed nuns: does the munia book call them 'Chestnut munias'? I love the yellowish tails of the ones in your photo beautiful contrasting color.

[w.l.]

isobea

I couldn't identify them by the minuscule outer differences either, I identify them by knowing where they come from!
However, some subspecies are more distinct than others, and I'd really like to see/get the smallest, pale-scaled Bawean subspecies.

Yes, the munia book calls the Black-heads "Chestnut munia" as a species, but then in the list of subspecies inconsistently uses "Black-headed munia" for the first two, then Chestnut for the rest.
Usually, the name Chestnut was used when malacca, atricapilla and ferruginosa were all considered variations of the same one species, and now that they have been split, the names Tricolor, Black-headed and Black-throated/White-capped are used.

[w.l.]

w.l. - Yes, I think you should 'rescue' one of those black heads.

So I decided to buy one, and a frieng has asked me to buy him two.
And then on the market tye seller offered a special price for five - so I ended up with that many! All young birds, not yet in adult color.
They are quite skinny but appear healthy otherwise, so hopefully they are just underfed with one plate of seed to compete for with so many others in the same cage on the market.

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[lovezebs]

w.l.

Congratulations!
They will be very beautiful once they colour up.

I have actually tried to figure out if there is some way to get a pair over here. I'll have to ask at my Pet Shop, if they have a way of ordering up some.

When I look at the picture below, I just love them...

[isobea]

w.l. - You went to get one and came home with five? I have to say you did very well on your own (without Elana egging you on).
These juveniles look nothing like the adults. God knows what I would come home with if I ever went to one of your bird markets. The sellers could most likely sell me young birds of a different species and I would only find out months later.

lovezebs - beautiful picture Elana. Keep searching. If you can't find an importer, do you want to pool our resources and we'll buy w.l. a plane ticket? And a coat with deep pockets...
Iso

[lovezebs]

isobea

Haha hah hahhh.....

I am pretty sure that there is some other way to get some of these pretties, without forcing our friend to travel half way around the world in a big "down filled" coat.

Can you imagine the two of us in one of those markets in Indonesia ? God help us, lol.

[w.l.]

lovezebs

The one on your photo is a different subspecies - L.a. jagori from Borneo and the Philippines, I think. Note the less deep black head and the blackish belly. It would also lack the yellowish color on the tail.
When colored up, mine will be like this:

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Good luck finding some in Canada - given reports from the US, it won't be easy.
They are bred in Europe though.

@isobea

Remember that only 2 of those 5 are for me, 3 for the friend who originally wanted 2.
With the discount, I got the lot for $11.13 instead of $8.9 for 3 - not worth it?
As for the trip - why don't you make it yourself/yourselves? In addition to the shopping, it would be an exotic holiday, and being a US resident, you'd be less likely to be searched upon arriving home. The seller admitted they are not selling well, so may well still be there for quite a while, though I expect their condition to drop.

[lovezebs]

w.l.

You are so right, they are different
I probably would not have noticed the difference unless I had the pictures, or the birds side by side...

As mentioned in another post, I do believe it's time for stronger glasses

The more I look into the lonchuras and munias, the more I realize, that there appear to be an endless supply of different species and subspecies (and subspecies of the subspecies) all over the place (with some having such very subtle differences, that it's almost impossible to tell them apart, unless one knows what to look for).

Isn't Nature amazing?

[w.l.]

So have you made inquiries about ordering a pair?
I'm curious to hear how different availability of such finches is in Canada from the US.