Received this frantic call from a newbie about his new birdhouse.
" Harry I need your quick advise on how to select the best direction to open the bird entrance hole. I have one which is about to be ready and one more about to be converted. Frankly I am very new in this and the only knowledge I have no is from what I read in your swiftlet farming blog. "
Well, sound very interesting and familiar. Many newbies jumps into this BH venture with little or no knowledge at all. They depend so much on their so call SIFUs and when they receive their BH keys, it is just too late to do the right things.
Even if the entrance hole direction is right and proper, will those birds stays?
Are you sure that when they entered your BH, they will at least stop by to take a good look at it, internally, and will perhaps decide to make your BH their permanent residence?
Are the smells of your new house right and is as good as those caves or are they like a new house with those awefull cement, welding and wood smells?
Well that is not an easy question to answer ........
Anyway, coming back to the best ways to choose the direction of your BH entrance hole(s), these points might be worth considering:
1) I will make every effort to observe, for at least three days to a week, where those birds are flying to every everning (From 5.30pm to 7.30pm please). If you are very sure that your BH is below the swiftlet flying path, you should be able to see which direction they are flying. Once confirmed, then that should be the right direction for your BH. (Pheww...... I hope I am right !!!).
2) The next best method is to visit all those successful BH within 3 - 5 kilometers from your BH and look at the holes direction. Bring with you a compass and take note which direction those holes are facing. If they are to the north east, then check with the rest to do some comparison. Make sure you select those successful one.... Once you have that in hand then you now have a kind of guide which direction your BH entrance should be facing to.
3) If given a chance, I will have more then one entrances. If you have a kennel extension on your BH, why cann't you open one for every side? You make it such that you can close those that are not suitable later. By having them inbuilt, you have a much wider options. If your SIFU says no need, then you tell him that it is your BH and you have the right to choose what is best for you.
4)Those who opt using the open roof type, the above steps might not be very crutial. However you still need to know which direction you want your external tweeters be facing to .....
Use lot of your common sense and do not always follow what your SIFU tells you. Some of these SIFUs are very old fashioned and they tend to have their mind set that are no longer valid.
You need to choose those that have an open mind about using new technologies and concepts on how to increase your BH swiftlet populations.
I am not saying that they are always wrong but what will happenned is that using their methods might delay the time to populate your BH. For example: his methods might take 5 years to achieve, let say 500 nests, while using new methods you might cut short the time to say 3 years.
The decision is yours and it is you who will reap the benefits ...
So be a bit more wise in making the right decision ....
Note: The above recommendations should only use as a guidance and you must always remember we are dealing with wild birds. Some places they works perfectly but in some instances they defy logic. What you need to do is to comply to the most logical design criterias, ensure that the house microhabitats are perfect, the sound system you used are crystal clear, the sound played are those that do not chase the birds away and the rest you depend on some luck.
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