How to select and raise a hwamei (Chinese laughingthrush)? A step-by-step guide

The hwamei is actually a particularly endearing bird. It gets its name from the white ring around its eye, which extends backward from above the eye corner into a brow-like shape. Among cage-kept songbirds, the hwamei is considered the best. Because it has a gorgeous, beautiful physique, a sweet and moving song, and a wonderful name, many people love to keep them.

How to select a hwamei  

Hwameis mostly come from Yunnan and Guizhou, with Kaili in Guizhou being especially famous. When selecting a hwamei, you can follow these points:  

1. The brow line. There are many types, and corresponding to the bird's different temperaments, the important point is that the greater the color contrast between the brow line and the head, the better; in other words, the clearer the brow line, the better.  

2. The eyes. The hwamei's eyes are like crystals; their transparency should be good, and even a little cloudiness will not do.  

3. The feathers. They should be thin and tight, not puffy.  

4. The body shape. Bigger is better than smaller; do not choose those small hwameis that look frail and delicate.  

5. The beak. When closed, it must not show a gap.  

6. The tail. The tail feathers should best be folded up like a folding fan, rather than spread open like a peacock's display.  

7. Leg color. Yellow or white is best.

What kind of hwamei is good to choose for keeping

Hwameis of different ages have different names. A nestling that has just hatched and has not yet left the nest is called a “nest chick”; after the feathers have grown long, it is called a “soft-feather”; after the “soft-feather” molts, it is called a “even-feather”; and an adult bird after its second molt is called an “old-feather”.

When choosing a hwamei to keep, pick a male. In terms of bird age, the “soft-feather” (about one year old, and not yet molted) is the easiest to keep; one that is too old or too young is not easy to raise; in terms of feather color, the ones that look blue-green are more ordinary, while red ones are rare and precious; the beak and claws should be yellow; the brow should be white and wide, with the tips turning upward; the eyes should be large, clear, and bright, with green eyeballs. The quality of the song is an important standard for judging a hwamei. One that sings with its chest out and head raised, tail lowered, with a deep, crisp, loud, sweet, and pleasant voice, and that can produce many variations, is a good bird. The hwamei is competitive by nature; if it encounters a rival in a singing contest, it will not yield, and will not stop until it is exhausted. When this happens, the keeper must control it.

Hwamei keeping techniques

Keeping a hwamei is different from keeping other birds, because it likes to hide away in dense forests and has an impatient temperament. So when a newly arrived hwamei is first kept, whether it is a young bird or an adult bird, the cage must be fitted with a cage cover (that is, covered with a layer of dark cloth) to artificially simulate the dimmer light conditions of a dense forest, and then it will settle down. After it is gradually tamed, switch it to a “bright cage”; the bright cage still needs to be covered with a cage cover, so that it develops the habit of singing as soon as the cage cover is removed.

The hwamei loves cleanliness very much and greatly enjoys water bathing, so regardless of spring, summer, autumn, or winter, it must be given a water bath once every day. Only in severe freezing weather and during the molting period should bathing be stopped for a few days. The hwamei's feed is relatively simple: every day feed it some egg-fried rice, and also give it some insects such as mealworms, locusts, and field crickets. When feeding insects, remove the insect heads; if there are no insects, cooked shrimp, raw beef, or shredded lean pork can also be used as a substitute. In addition, clean drinking water must be supplied every day.

During the taming process, if a hwamei is excessively frightened, it may show such behaviors as tilting its head back, jumping on both feet, and stepping into the food dish. A hwamei needs to be “taken out for a stroll”; the more it is “taken out for a stroll,” the more it loves to sing. The so-called “stroll” means that every morning or evening the bird must be taken to open fields, gardens (or parks) to roam about a bit, letting it come into contact with natural scenery and fresh, quiet air. This roaming process is commonly called “strolling.” Whether a hwamei is kept well or poorly has a certain relationship with how diligently or lazily it is “strolled.” Choosing a hwamei is like choosing a good horse; the ones with unusually impatient tempers are often good birds.

Methods for training and taming the hwamei  

To train a hwamei, you must first have enough patience and learn to master the methods and skills of taming.  

1. Raising and training nestlings: hobbyists divide young birds into three stages: nest chick, soft-feather, and even-feather. A newly hatched young bird is called a nest chick, one whose feathers have already grown is called soft-feather, and even-feather refers to one that has already molted. Birds in these three stages have the gentlest temperaments and are not afraid of strangers, making them easy to keep. Once they pass these three stages, they are no longer something a beginner who has just come into contact with hwameis can handle.  

2. Training adult birds: A young bird that has left the nest, after eight or nine months in the wild, has full-grown wings and feathers and can already choose a mate, move away, and live independently. At this time, because the young bird often hops back and forth on the branches, it is called a branch-hopper. In fact, it is already a fully mature adult bird. After this, the older and stronger it gets, the better it sings, but the more strong-willed and difficult to tame it becomes. Whenever it sees a stranger, it will peck and struggle, jumping about endlessly. Even so, most hobbyists prefer to use birds of this age for training.  

Every hwamei has a different personality and capacity for learning, so they also need to be treated differently during taming. Besides having enough patience and a good temper, the keeper must also be prepared for long-term taming. Only through persistence can a high-quality hwamei be tamed.

If it is a wild hwamei from the mountains, it is indeed very difficult to tame, because they are already used to flying freely in the woods all day long. But the hwameis we generally buy in bird shops are relatively docile, because they have been confined in cages since they were young and have been tamed by humans since they were young. So if you are interested in keeping hwameis but have no bird-keeping skills, it is best to buy from a professional bird shop!