A success story in breeding the bird of paradise

Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post, Cisarua, Bogor

After 12 years of experimenting in an ex-situ bird breeding program, Taman Safari has finally succeeded in breeding the bird of paradise (locally called cendrawasih).

Moy, a female Paradisaea minor (popularly known for its common name: the lesser bird of paradise) laid an egg on Aug. 20. The chick broke out of its shell on Sept. 5, making it the first in Indonesia to be born in a breeding program.

According to Retno Sudarwati, one of the park's veterinarians, it was the third egg for Moy. She laid her first egg on Feb. 20 and the second on March 16 without much success.

She said on the first attempt, Moy laid an egg in the feeding area, not in the cage, while the second time, the egg was squashed between the wire fence. A female bird can only lay up to two eggs at a time.

"We assume that at that time, she was learning," Retno explained during the Flora and Fauna Jamboree at the park on Oct. 18 through Oct. 19.

She added that Moy is one of many bird of paradise seized after a foiled smuggling attempt.

The lesser bird of paradise is one of 44 species of cendrawasih that originate from Papua. Both the female and male has maroon-brown feathers. The male bird is more attractive, as it sports a long, yellow plume on his wings and tail.

The males of this species are polygamous, but the success in courting eventually depends on the female birds. During courtship, a number of males will gather together and dance and sing to attract the female.

Since April 2000, Moy has been courted by three other male birds in the male's cage. The park staff observed that Moy was attracted to Munir, so they took out the other two males.

The officials noticed the two birds mating on Nov. 20 that year. At that day, Moy appeared aggressive and approached the dancing male. The male greeted Moy by pecking her on her head several times, followed by a repeated brief copulation, about two to three seconds in duration, three times a day.

However, the mating failed to lead to reproduction.

"We learned that one of the main reasons for this failure was an imbalanced diet," Retno said.

Though the bird loves fruit, especially papaya, Retno said that they also need enough protein to be able to produce eggs. The source of protein comes from insects, bean curd or eggs.

When Moy finally laid her egg, she was immediately separated from the male bird and put in an individual cage. This is to prevent the male bird attacking the newborn chick, she said.

The female bird started to renovate her nest, which was located in a cage near the male's, so she could hear him chirp.

The cage was covered with canvass so the bird would not be stressed by the presence of humans. Workers at the breeding ground enter the cage only to clean up food scraps once in a while.

Visitors will have to peep through tiny holes in the canvas to observe the bird.

Said Nuniek, a staffer at the breeding ground, "the mother becomes suspicious if we make our presence known to her."

The bird's home has to be comfortable, so the nest was equipped with shelter and plants.

"We tried to help her build the nest by preparing the branches and leaves. But she will raze the nest and rebuild it herself," she said.

After a 17-day incubation period, Nuniek noticed that Moy had discarded the eggshell from her nest.

"We also noticed that the mother flew back and forth, looking for soft food," Nuniek said.

During the growth period, the chick is given high-protein food at one-hour intervals.

The chick is more than one-month old now, but we have to wait until it grows its feathers to determine the sex.

Cendrawasih has been admired and hunted for its beautiful plumage for thousands of year. The Papuans used its plumes as an adornment long before the Westerners came to discover the bird of paradise in the 16th century.

The bird was first spotted in Maluku, as European sailors arrived in search of rare and precious spices like clove and nutmeg. Dutchman Jan Huyghen van Linschoten wrote in 1598: "no one has seen these birds alive, for they live in the air, always turning toward the sun, and never alighting on the earth till they die." (www.birdnature.com/apr1898/birdsofparadise.html)

In 1760, Carolus Linnaeus named the largest species of the bird of paradise Paradiseae apoda or greater bird of paradise.

Cendrawasih is protected under Indonesian law. The punishment for the smuggling, illegal export and import of this bird is a fine of Rp 250 million.