In the company of feathered friends.

The outdoor aviary has enough things to keep the birds amused. INSET: Mujeeb Mohamed By Usha Desai 1 Finches are the predominant residents in Mujeeb Mohamed's aviary. Seen here are Gouldian Finch, Hecks Grass Finch and Crested Society.

How many birds do we keep as pets? One, two, three, five ...15? How about 150? Before you exclaim in disbelief, that's indeed the number of birds one gets to see at Doha resident Mujeeb C Mohamed's backyard. He has housed them in a wonderful outdoor aviary -- complete with various kinds of birdcages, nests, food and water feeders, artificial plants, trees and even an artificial water fall and a mist fan! More on that later.

An employee with Seef Limited, Mujeeb is so passionate about birds that often people mistake him to be an ornithologist! Mujeeb says he was always fascinated by pet animals, especially birds, since his childhood days in his native Kerala, in southern India. "My mother was very fond of pets. Therefore I grew up seeing different kinds of animals and birds at our home. And gradually I too was drawn towards them," he reminisces as we meet him at his spacious villa in Al Thumama area on a recent afternoon.

A resident of Qatar for the past 13 years, Mujeeb's hobby got a boost when he shifted to his present residence around three years ago. Though he had maintained a small collectionof birds in his previous home, his long-cherished dream of having an aviary became a reality in the new house. But building one from scratch wasn't an easy task. "First of all, I had to decide about the kind of birds that would stay in my aviary. They had to be social birds which can co-exist with each other. Then I studied in detail about a variety of birds available locally, their food habits, habitat, behaviour, their response to their surroundings, mating requirements, nesting, hatching of fledglings, etc. From the beginning I had envisaged how my aviary should look and accordingly, I went on adding new species of birds as well as different features to the place," he explains.

According to Mujeeb, all the original bird species in his aviary were bought from the bird market in Souq Waqif. What he has to say about the market's poor reputation among people? "The vendors there do have a good variety of birds. At the same time I agree that they don't always keep their birds in a very healthy and hygienic condition. But then there are few other options available for bird lovers like me," he reasons.

"Whenever I bring new members for my aviary from the souq, I quarantine them for a week. Later I release them into the existing flock only after ensuring that they are healthy and fit to mingle with other birds," Mujeeb adds.

Apart from the ready-made bird feed, Mujeeb provides special 'home-made' food for his winged friends -- a preparation made from eggs as well as a mixture of finely-chopped vegetables and fruits, because, "It is important to provide the birds a protein-rich diet so as to help them in reproduction." Going by the amount of time and effort that Mujeeb devotes towards his hobby, no doubt he is absolutely passionate about it. Apart from regularly upgrading his information about the bird species in his collection, Mujeeb has a data sheet on his computer where he records information about his bird collection under various headings like -- bird species, their current strength, number of off-springs born to each species, incubation period, food given to them, medications administered, initial investment on each bird and number of birds sold, etc.

When there are too many birds of one kind, Mujeeb says he gives them away to his friends or sells them at the bird market or pet shop because, "it is necessary to maintain the balance of the birds in the aviary." As we set out to observe the aviary, Mujeeb's wife Suhara and little daughter Minnah accompany us. "Pursuing my hobby in an elaborate way wouldn't have been possible without the whole-hearted support from my family, especially my wife," he says adding that she is the one who regularly feeds the birds and ensures that the entire place is kept neat and clean.

Being a toddler, Minnah is naturally very fond of birds and her two older brothers are also happy to show off the bird collection to their friends, he explains further.

As we enter the dome-shaped aviary which is covered with three layers of wire mesh, topped with a green net to keep out the sun, its residents flutter around amidst a cacophony of twitters. "Generally we don't enter the aviary from the main door because as you can see, the birds easily get disturbed in our presence," says Mujeeb.

Therefore the couple observe the birds through the kitchen window which opens into the aviary. From here, a step-ladder gives access to the place. "The first thing that I do as soon as I get up in the morning is to see all the birds through this window -- it feels great to hear the chirping of so many birds, it's soothing as well as rejuvenating," he says.

The couple know about each and every bird in their collection like the back of their hand. To assist in identifying the birds and avoid inbreeding, Mujeeb uses plastic leg bands of different colours for all the birds.

Finches are the dominant residents of the aviary and you can find many varieties of them -- Gouldian Finch, Grass Finch, Owl Finch, Society Finch, Masked Finch, Zebra Finch, Spice Finch, Strawberry Finch and Star Finch. Other species include Canary, Japanese Bantham, Button Quail, Waxbill, Wagtail, Californian Quail, BulBul, Silver Bill, Diamond Dove, Crested Society and Java sparrow among others.

There are birds of every size and hue in the aviary -- while some of them like the big Californian Quails have a big coop where a group of baby birds are playing hide-and-seek with their parents, most of the tiny birds are free to fly around. They are perching on artificial plants and trees ("because the chicks will devour the leaves of real ones in no time," informs Mujeeb), swinging on ropes, peeping out of their nests, munching their food or splashing in the water feeder. Many of these birds have built beautiful nests using the coconut fibre, bamboo, hay and cotton, hung in meshed containers all over the aviary while some lazy ones have taken shelter in ready-made nests.

Mujeeb is particularly proud of the Californian Quails because, "It is said that they rarely breed successfully outside their original habitat. And here these two quails have produced 13 off-springs till now." A big thermometer is hung in the aviary; as the temperatures soar, the birds needn't worry about keeping themselves cool -- there is a mist fan which whirrs at intervals and an artificial waterfall which runs on a timer.

Pursuing his hobby is one thing, but what Mujeeb actually wants to convey through his outdoor aviary is that it is possible to successfully rear and breed many of the bird species which are not native to Qatar and come from different habitats from all parts of the world.

"All the bird species in my aviary are generally kept as pets. Due to their small size, they may not be able to survive in the open. I am hoping that by encouraging them to dwell in an outdoor but protected set-up, their resistance to local climatic conditions will gradually improve. And in near future, you may see many of these species in the open atmosphere, perching on tree tops or flying freely in Qatar," concludes Mujeeb. That's one dream which may take quite long to realise ... or perhaps not? ** Mujeeb Mohamed can be contacted at [email protected] 2 Birds of a different feather ... yet flock together: Finches, Canaries and Diamond Doves perched on bamboo sticks and artificial trees inside the aviary. Photographs: Najeer Feroke

Gulf Times Newspaper 2013

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Publication:	Gulf Times (Doha, Qatar)
Geographic Code:	7QATA
Date:	Jun 12, 2013
Words:	1338
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Topics:	Birds