"Harry, what do you think the relationship between the roving area size and the nests population?"
I was having lunch with a good friend who fell in love with swiftlet farming.
He seem to be collecting some kind of statistic comparing those BHs that are successful and those that are not and how big are their roving areas.
He also talked to various experience BH builders on the same issue.
In a BH, roving area is where the birds first enter the entrance hole will be at. This special area have a number of functions.
1) The area is too bright thus very rare it will be populated with any AF nest. In neighboring countries, this area are normally populated by Serinti or Martins. This is where the cross fostering are carried out.
2) It served as an area where the light is being blocked from entering the nesting rooms.
3) Most successful BHs the walls in this room are filled with shit markings. They look like an artwork of bird shits. The birds seem to leave their territorial makings on the walls to either indicate that this is their home or to scare others birds from entering.
4) It is said that the roving area is where those high speed flight are reduced. The moment those high speed birds enter the area they will slow down their speed before entering their nesting rooms.
5) Some people seem to claimed that in the morning, before dawn, there will be some birds that use the roving areas to warm up. They will fly around for a few minutes before making their dash out to search for food.
His conclusion is something that I would like to share.
"The bigger the roving areas the more will be the nests population." according to him.
Smaller roving areas seem to attract only a handful of those stray birds. Bigger roving areas will attract those colony type of birds.
His recommendation was to allocate at least 15 feet or more of the top most floor. If possible make it 20 feet.
Hmmm a very good advise but it is good for all of you to check on this finding whenever you visit a BH. Have a look at the roving area size and compare with the number of nests populations are in the BH.
The issue here is the total space areas to be allocated for roving areas and the entrance hole. How much should be allocated for?
If you have the luxury of space a 10 feet for the entrance hole areas plus 20 feet for the roving areas would be sufficient. The rest should be turned into nesting areas.
Note: The above points are just an observation and are not construed as the exact formula. There are many more things that need to be carefully design to ensure those wild birds love to enter and stay in your BH.
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