Yellow-breasted Hunting Cissa

Abstract

Of all the birds in the Corvid family, Cissas are probably the most sought after in aviculture.

There are three species of Cissas with 12 sub-species. The Green Magpie Cissa cbinensis, also known as the Long-tailed Hunting Cissa in aviculture, comes from the Malay Peninsula up into Annam (Vietnam) and as far north as China. Four subspecies are on the mainland with one sub-species C.c. minor coming from the island of Sumatra up to Burma. We have the mainland sub-species C. c. klossi, and the island sub-species C. c. minor, which is smaller than the mainland birds.

The Short-tailed Hunting Cissa Cissa tbalassina comes from two islands, Java and Borneo. We have a female of the javan sub-species C. t. tbalassina. The Short-tailed has quite a musical song much like that of a songbird. The other species we keep don't seem to.

Three sub-species of the Yellowbreasted Magpie Cissa hypoleuca come from Annam (Vietnam), Laos, and Thailand. There are two isolated sub-species in China. The Yellowbreasted have a longer crest and display it far more often than the other species. The species we keep are the nominate Cissa h. bypoleuca.

Cissas are a little larger than the American Blue jay (13 to 14 inches). They are a beautiful light green color with chestnut red colored wings, a black mask and red/orange beak. The green color seems to fade to a light blue color in captivity if the birds are exposed to too much sunlight and perhaps not given enough caratenoids in the diet. The males seem to turn more hluish than the females. The young we have raised all had bluish or turquoise feathers. Interestingly, Lynn Hall, expert breeder of fruit doves, informed me of seeing recently caught birds that were entirely blue at bird markets in Singapore. They do seem to spend most of their time in the aviary shelter or in the shade of the plants in the aviary

The word "hunting" does describe the method the pair uses tu capture their prey. When the prey (usually a feeder mouse) is spotted in the grass, the pair of cissas will stalk it together, like a brace of dogs, on either side of the aviary until it is cornered. At that point the male will usually make the kill.

Breeding the Yellow-breasted Hunting Cissa We received the pair on breeder loan from Gene Fetter. They were together at his aviaries hut had never bred. Fetter believed that it was because he wasn't able to provide them with what they needed in aviary size and particular care. We kept them indoors for about Three months then moved them into a sheltered cage that was outside to get them acclimated to the climate. We live at 1200 feet elevation and it can get to below freezing at night Cl 5 degrees in 1999).

They were fed "soft food" daily along with four pieces of canned dog food and two pieces of beef heart. The soft food consisted of Science Diet (Canine Maintenance - small bites); Kaytee Mynah pellets; green Purina Nutra-hlend Pigeon pellets; and Mazuri Small Bird Breeder pellets softened with water.

This was mixed with defrosted frozen mixed vegetables every other day. Dry food was kept in their cage constantly. The dry mix consisted of Science Diet (Canine Maintenance - small bites); Kaytee Mynah pellets; green Purina Nutra-blend Pigeon pellets and Calf Manna. The female laid an egg on the floor of the cage.

The birds were finally moved to an outside aviary three feet wide and 16 feet long planted with podicarpus. A basket nest was placed high in the sheltered area above the door. The basket nest w~1.s ~1 decorative plant pot covered with rushes' inside. More rushes were placed in the aviary. which the female gathered to complete the nest. In our experience. the hen seems to build a nest that is sturdy and neat as compared to other jays and magpies.

The female hegan to make her nest immediately after heing placed in the aviary. The same food mixture is fed. We also feed weanling to half grown mice 3-4 times a day. After a few clays she started to lay.

The first clutch of three eggs was infertile. They were removed at 15 clays. To our surprise, she immediately laid again. Our other pairs have never laid so soon after an unsuccessful nest. Mealworms were also added to their diet. They seemed to eat both the rnealworrns and mice with relish. Al the onset of the first egg of the second clutch, mice were added on a daily basis. The mice were live and placed in a porcelain mixing bowl partially sunk in the ground. The sides of the howl are smooth so the mice couldn't jump or climb out.

In four clays time she laid four eggs.

The male kept vigil guard. She set tight unless someone went into the aviary to drop mice in the feeding bowl. The male sounded an alarm or became aggressive and she left the nest temporarily always going to the ground. (The Long-tailed Cissa always went to a high perch). About two clays prior to the eggs hatching, the male became even bolder and more aggressive...