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| PET GAZETTE | AVIAN
PEKIN
ROBINS
John Courteney-Smith explores the
softbilled singing bird, the Pekin Robin
IMAGES: ADAM HOUGH FOR ARCADIA REPTILE
T
he term softbilled-bird
or more frequently used
softbills, in aviculture
refers to those species
that consume fresh
fruits and plants and/
or invertebrates as the main part of the diet.
These birds are also commonly referred to
as being tropical, are usually highly coloured
and can possess quite outstanding songs.
This is a very wide group of species that occur
in some way, over much of the planet. Luckily
there are a few species that are now once
again fairly common in the hobby and can be
kept quite simply by keepers with some level
of experience, budget and space. As a point
of note, the title softbill has no bearing on the
build or texture of the actual beak. It refers
entirely to the birds’ tendency for consuming
soft foods. This also means that they tend to
produce frequent and rather loose droppings,
which once again, make them more suitable to
life in aviaries, tropical houses and birdrooms.
Before the limitations of import, softbills
were a mainstay of the bird keeping hobby,
being available in some form in most pet
stores that sold birds all year round. They have
always tended to be a little more expensive,
be a little harder to keep and as such are
more suited to the more experienced keeper,
i.e. those that had been keeping species such
as waxbills for a period of time successfully.
A wide range of species were available
and remained affordable for many until
the enforced reduction of availability. These
species included the Laughing Thrushes,
Yuhinas, Zosterops, Tanagers, Bulbuls,
Barbets, African Starlings, Mynahs, Sugarbirds,
Sunbirds, Toucans, Toucanets and Aracaris,
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and the ever so popular ‘Pekin Robin’. Luckily
over the past few years more and more
dedicated bird keepers have been able to
produce truly captive bred youngsters from
a range of species. Those that were so rarely
bred are now starting to become thought of
as ‘commonly available’ once more. This does
not belittle their care, far from it. The keeper
that chooses to include softbills into their
collection will have to pay a fairly high price
and afford the bird a high degree of care and
room to move. However, if he or she does so
with an open mind and degree of dedication
they will be able to experience the wonder of
softbills and enjoy a further expansion of their
hobby for years to come.
It is the delightful Pekin Robin that I wish
to concentrate upon this month. The Pekin
Robin Leiothrix lutea has been sold under
a couple of different names over the years.
These include the Japanese Nightingale, Red
billed Leiothrix and simply Robin. Before we
start, it must be pointed out that the Pekin
Robin is not a true Robin as we know them but
rather a small and intrinsically friendly Asian
babbler. These are small birds that tend to
live by water and in the dense undergrowth.
It is a temperate species, able to tolerate
quite low temperatures, providing they have
suitable shelter when acclimated. They are
fast and free flying, acrobatic, energetic, highly
coloured and incredible songsters, hence the
tie into Nightingale.
The Pekin Robin is one of those few species
seen as being lucky within Asia. As such many
solitary cock birds are kept in rather small
domed cages, hung high and left to sing, even
in formal competition as is the Magpie Robin
and Shama Thrush. This is one species that will
sing and continue to sing even under stress.
As such the presence of song in this bird is
not an accurate measurement of health and
well-being. This type of use of the bird meant
that many were kept as sole birds while high
numbers were available and very little effort
was placed into their captive reproduction. As
is always the case, after their initial restriction
from and then subsequent removal from
international trade as wild harvested the prices
soared as demand could not be satiated.
Prices were common at retail at around £40pr
in the 1980s and early 90s and rose well into
the hundreds of pounds soon after and within
the US market to around $1500pr. Eventually
those dedicated keepers that did have time,
space and experience to breed them started to
more frequently, especially after improvements
to diets and overall care. Prices have started
to fall once more and I hope that this does
not restart the trend of keeping them confined
purely as songbirds.
Pekin Robins are sexually monomorphic,
this means that it is almost impossible to see
visually the differences between cock and hen.
Some very experienced keepers will look at
tail colouration as a guide in young birds and
hens can be a little more shy, but typically, the
hen is sexed by the total lack of complex song.
She can and does click and cheep however.
Pekin Robins are active birds that require
space to fly. A 6x3x6’ flight with covered
area, being heavily planted with shrubs and
a shallow but flowing water source is best.
They can be maintained within the home and
birdroom but once again, within similar sized
flights.
Pekin Robins are social and can be kept
with other birds in single pairs. The cock
September 2018