When Will Those Birdcall Sounds Be Most Effective ???

Most birdhouse owners give very little attention on how important a good bird call sound is.

They could not even differentiate between baby sound, mating sound sound, leader in a colony sound and perhaps colony sound.

To me if your internal and external sounds sucks you will have very little chance of populating your new BH.

Since I am deeply involved with searching for good sounds and perhaps distribute them to all my blog readers, I am doing some extra works to observe what really happen when these sounds are played.

I have been spending countless hours watching those birds behaviours when different sounds were being played.

Each sound makes these birds behaves differently.

The speed of their flight towards the entrance hole varies from sound to sound.

The number of circles they make before they entered the BH entrance hole varies from sound to sound too.

One of the sound makes them fly straight into the entrance hole opening without making any circular flight around.

Some of these sounds seem to draw those birds towards the affected tweeters. The birds will land on them and start to pack them.

Some sound makes those birds cling to the tweeters and the nearby walls just to perhaps enjoy the soothing sound.

There were some that makes the birds enter the entrance hole but immediately after that they will fly out.

Some will not make any effect on those birds. It was as if they do not understand what the sound was all about. It was like those were not their sound.

In Tuaran when I entered the BH after playing my BC, the birds seem to be flying all around the ceiling as if they were searching for the caller who makes the sound.

If you play the sound inside the BH you will see lots of bird shits all over the place and not much at any specific tweeters.

To me there are still lots of new discoveries that needs to be done.

Not many local Universities or Veterinary Department that conduct any research on these kind of behaviours. To these people they means nothing to their organisation however to us the swiftlet farmer they do means alot. It is a matter of life or death.

One of the most interesting time of the day to play the right sound at your entrance hole is between 1 to 1.25 hours before darkness.

In Peninsular Malaysia is about 6.15pm till 7.30pm.

During this time of the day, if you happened to be in a BH walet central, you can see a very strange behaviour of all these birds.

They will start rushing home and wanted to be inside as soon as they can as if those predators will snatch them in the air if they do stays outside.

I make a few interesting discoveries when I was in Manjung, Perak.

During this "Rush Hour" it seem that these birds can be easily distracted and will enter any BH along their flying path home as long as the right sound with a strong volume being played.

It is like those "Cheetah" chasing the "Gazelle" in the grass plain of Africa. Those gazelle when being chased at high speed are very easily tumbled if the cheetah just slap on the gazelle's back legs. Once that happen the chase will be all over in a few seconds since the gazelle will be out of control and will flip and tumble on the ground.


Cheetah Chases and Catches a Gazelle - Click here for the most popular videos

This phenomena is quite the same when those birds are rushing home to roost.

The moment they pass any entrance holes with a reasonably good sound plus high enough volume they will simply jump into the hole.

They are easily maneuvered from going home especially those that have yet to have a nest.

If you know what to do during this time of the day I am very sure your BH will be easily populated.

All you need is to be very observant and try to find ways and means to exploit their weakness.

Use these weakness to your advantage.

There is no need to sought helps here and there but use your brain and your eyes.

Oh yes please spend more time at your BH to observe what I was trying to say.

Don't blame Harry for informing you about this special findings.

If you think that I was not right please proof that I was wrong.


Donation: I am sure you have learned something after reading this article. If you feel that the lesson learned deserved an encourangement you can contribute a some donation to this account: Yayasan Kebajikan Nah Sabah, 100930010038410 at Allied Bank, Malaysia.

In Todays The Star !!!

Entrepreneurs want a one-stop centre
By OH ING YEEN

Found at: http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2009/10/30/central/4986699&sec=central

A one-stop centre for issuing licences and permits relating to the bird’s nest industry will benefit entrepreneurs if it is given the green light.

This was one of the resolutions discussed by the Asia Bird’s Nest Conference recently.

Currently, the farmers have to apply for a premises licence from the local council to build the bird house and then apply for a harvesting licence from the Wildlife Department.

More than 250 participants from various states took part in the two-day swiftlet workshop held at the Paya Indah Wetlands, Dengkil.

It was the third and last in a series of workshops that began in 2008.

The objective of the workshop was to get feedback from participants who had ventured into the industry and to discuss the problems they face and come up with solutions.

Other resolutions that were discussed include:


»The workshop provided us with a platform to discuss swiftlet-related issue and I learnt a lot« HALIM KEPOL
·URGING the government to prepare complete guidelines for the industry;

lResearch collaboration bet-ween the government and industry players should be created or continued and government consultancy services provided, if needed; and

lrecognisING the industry as an expanding one to market the products through a standardised brand name.

Halim Kepol, 44, from Batu Pahat, got to know about the industry from friends and the Internet and has spent RM135,000 building a bird house.

“I’m interested in this industry as I feel it has the potential to succeed.

“The workshop provided us a platform to discuss swiftlet-related issues and I’ve learnt a lot from the workshops,” he said.

Another participant Abu Hussin, a retiree, said the swiftlet business was booming in Alor Gajah, Malacca.

“It’s a good opportunity as there is guidance and aid provided for swiftlet nest entrepreneurs.

“Moreover, there’s not much competition and the risk is low,” he said.

Perhilitan director-general Datuk Abdul Rasid Samsudin said Perhilitan’s role was mainly in conservation.

When asked for his comments about Sahabat Alam Malaysia’s call to ban swiftlet farming, he said the industry should not be discouraged but should be controlled.

“It has to be done on agricultural land, away from the urban areas,” he said.

A total of 16 public awareness programmes have been carried out from 2008 till June this year.

D'Awesome In Setiawan

I managed to capture this video clip in Setiawan, Perak at about 9.00 am this morning.

Not that bad and those birds seem to be attracted into the entrance hole of a BH.

This BH was empty after 12 months in operation but if you got the right sound they seem to be lively after all.

If you have the desire to own one copy of this sound please email to:

harryswiftlet@yahoo.com

The sound is currently for sale at 250 rm per piece by email. Remember the sound referred to is D'Awesome and not Fabulous Madley !!!!

Fabulous Madley is RM 880.

Those who wanted it in thumb drive and send by post please add 30 (thumb drive) plus 12 (postage by post laju).

Total will be 250 + 30 + 12 = 292.

This new price superseeded the offer for trial price and will be firmed for 6 months.

Those who attend the monthly talk will get a 20% discount.

Ask the registration desk and you will be advise on how to purchase it.

I fully recommend this sound for your birdsound library.

It Looks Easy But Those Birds Simply Shy Away From This 5 Stars BH !!!

I was on the road again. This time I scheduled to visit a small town called Trong then to Ayer Tawar and final destination Kg Koh, Perak.

I took 3 solid hours to reach Trong from Kuala Lumpur. A very small town with only three rows of old shophouses of perhaps five each.

It was for birdcall test work that was earlier booked by Mr.S.

Mr.S works with waste treatment company in Ipoh and have a piece of property that he wanted me to evaluate.

After about two hours chatting, birdcall test, site inspection, durian eating and a short trip to Kuala Trong I told him that he needed to conduct more test if he wanted to dump in 250K rm. Better to go on a smaller scale like converting an old house that looks okay to me.

He will decide on the matter soon and I told him that I will be always available to make sure that the project will be successful.

Once completed I make my way to Ayer Tawar, Perak. I got a sick BH that I was asked to turn around. The BH was empty for almost 1.5 years and now, after about 4 months there seem to be lots of activities in it.

Entered and did some birdshit inspection. There were many on the floors and there were also birds flying around.

I did my normal aroma spray and change those sounds. Spend a bit of time to see the birds movements at the entrance hole. I was satisfied that the new "Fabulous Medley" do pull those wild birds into the house.

Oh yes...they seem to like the sound very much.

Left the place and make my last destination to visit a 1 years old BH with not a single occupant.

The owner met me in Petaling Jaya a few weeks ago. He explained his predicament. I told him that I can only make my judgement after I visit his BH.

After a three hours close observation plus using my "Fabulous Medley" I told him that there is nothing major with his sick BH. What he needed is some modification with those tweeters, the amplifiers, additional entrance hole playing different sounds and perhaps rearrange the positioning of those internal tweeters.

The house also need lots of fresh birdshits and soundless humidifiers.



The strange thing about this BH is the perfect location. The BH is about 100 meters from the most successful BH in Malaysia. Every morning and evening there will be about 10,000 birds passing above and beside the unit. Every four months the birds number will increase by 100%.

So how come they refuse to stay in this 5 stories building?

My conclusion is fine tuning. The owner though that it was very easy at first but he now realised that there are lots of fine tuning plus good sounds to made available all the time.

After plugging in my "Fabulous Medley" he saw the different.

I chided that the sound will only pull those birds in but there are lots of fine tuning that I need to do for the BH.

I hope he will decide his next move soon.

I am very excited on this beautiful and strategic located BH. The best building with not a single nest after 12 months in operation.

Donation: I am sure you have learned something after reading this article. If you feel that the lesson learned deserved an encouragement you can contribute a some donation to this account: Yayasan Kebajikan Nah Sabah, 100930010038410 at Allied Bank, Malaysia.

Farbulous Madeley For Those Wild Birds !!!!

Is there a way to make those external sound last as long as you can and those birds will not get bored?

I am sure there are ways of making them last longer to perhaps one year or more.

What can be the best solution?

If we can make the external sound last long can we do the same for the internal sound?

My answer is simple. If there are ways we shall find it and let every body knows the technique.

If you think D'Awesome was good read this new formula.

Okay let us focus on external sound first.

Let assumed that you have a total of 10 good sounds. Well five you purchased from pak Harry and the rest exchange with some friends.

You have been playing these sounds on rotation. After a few short weeks they became less effective and you then change to the next. Then after a few more weeks the same happened.

Have you thought of putting all these sound together. I mean combine them into a medley. Birdsound "Medley".

I am currently trying this new idea and frankly it works.

What I did was to set a two hours sound medley using five plus one songs.

The five are those that I know for sure those birds will be jumping into the entrance hole while the plus one is the mating sound.

This is how I did.

When I wanted to start I need to give a special attention to the last sound of the day. I mean which will be the best sound to be played from 7pm till darkness, say 8pm.This sound I usually named it as the "Happy Hours Sound". This HHS sound can make those birds rushing home at 7.00pm onwards be distracted and enter the wrong house.

You can combine two sounds to make up the 60 minutes time frame.

Now you are left with another 60 minutes to slot in the other three sounds.

The most important will be the first sound ie from 0 minutes to say 15 minutes. Say I select the best part of Godsend to fill this 15 mins slot.

One done I will introduce the mating sound to follow the 15 minutes. Make the mating sound to last for 3 minutes. Now you have a balance of 60-18 = 42 mins.

Now you have two more sounds to fill up the 42 minutes.

I will choose say my latest hotest sound D'Tsunami. I choose 20 minutes of D'Tsunami and slot in from the 19 minutes till the 38 minutes.

Again I will insert the mating sound for 3 minutes. Balance time left is 60-38 = 22 minutes.

Okay what about the last sound. I choose the sound called the "Shooting Star". I will pick the best of about 19 minutes. Now I patch it into my "Medley". I will also place the mating sound to make those birds more crazier then before.

So let see the total:

Godsend: 15 minutes
Mating : 3 minutes
D'Tsunami:20 minutes
Mating : 3 minutes
Shooting Star: 19 minutes
Mating: 3 minutes.
Mix of Tongkat Ali and BlackCloud: 57 minutes.

Total minutes 120 minutes (2 hours).

This new piece of the most powerful sound mix I called it as "Farbulous Madley". You will see those birds flying in and out for almost the whole 2 hours.

I would like to offer this special sound to those who have difficulties in populating your BH.

The price shall be fixed after three week after being used in Kepong, Rawang and Raub.

Those who are really keen to have this Masterpiece, please send your request to my email: harryswiftlet@yahoo.com.

The first 5 will get the masterpiece at only 350 ringgit (Research Fund). (Sorry the five have been totally taken up on the first week of the offer. If you wanted to get a piece please call me for the actual price.)

The sound is far superior then D'Awesome.

Beside good sound you also need to know how to set the time to run the sound.

Yes you will given the advise how to set the timing free of charge.

Donation: I am sure you have learned something after reading this article. If you feel that the lesson learned deserved an ancourangement you can contribute a some donation to this account: Yayasan Kebajikan Nah Sabah, 100930010038410 at Allied Bank, Malaysia.

I Was In Broga For The Second Time !!!

Yesterday I was invited to view an 8 months old BH but with not a single nests inside.

The owner called asking me to take a good look at the house and perhaps make some recommendations.

Hmm.....

Everything looks okay. Entrance hole direction was in the right position facing the returning flight path. There was a small pool in the roving area.

The number of tweeters (internal sound) were more then what I expected.

The external sound tweeters were also enough but not properly located. Those tweeters on the entrance hole seem to be a bit too awkward.

The owner seem to have his own methods of DIY the BH to what he thinks right but he forgot about what those birds likes.

He went over to a neighboring country to learn by visiting a few BHs and came back with all the things he learned.

He believed that it is better to put more light sources in the house as compare to making them totally dark.

He installed those mist spray nozzles on the supporting beam closed to the ceiling.

He recently constructed rooms at the back of the nesting room areas.

According to him he recently removed those exhaust fans since there were making too much noise. Now he placed those 4'PVC pipes but were white in color. They become like a neon bulbs during day time.

He laid a kind of very fine wire mesh on all the nesting planks. According to him it will make the birds easier to latch onto it.

One weak point was he did not change the external sound for some time.

The internal temperature and humidity were within range but why those birds refuse to enter?

I spend a few long minutes to try playing some new sounds.

The birds immediately attack the tweeters but on many occasions they refuse to enter the entrance hole at all.

Weired and difficult to understand such strange behaviours.

My deductions were as follows:

1) The area he selected was not below the flight path of those birds flying home.

2) The number of birds were not that encouraging. There was another BH build earlier but with some nests. Most of the birds prefer the other unit.

3) The externals sound was not powerful enough. The neighbor seem to have a melody of about three to four sounds while his was only one. I will try to come out with a better sound Melody for his BH.

4) The tweeters on the entrance hole was not properly located. Too deep inside as such the sound coverage areas were limited. I will arrange to relocate them during the renovation operation.

5) Since he opted to using a side entrance type his external sound only go towards the front section of the BH. What if there were birds flying at the back? I recommended a hexagonal tweeter to be installed on the rooftop.

6) The positioning of the external sound tweeters in the house were not properly located. Those birds, once they crossed any tweeter the sound will be totally lost. If you want those birds to go straight down to the targeted area the follow up tweeters must be located with high precision.

7) The LAL (Lubang Antara Lantai) was not located at the point where I would love to have. They were not immediately after the birds enter the nesting room. I feel this is one of the common mistakes of many BH owners. They placed those LAL where they feel easier for them (not the birds) to go up and down. We need to design to suit the birds not human. Since the LAL were already fixed, I cannot do much on this matter.

8) I was very concerned with the location of those water spray nozzles positioning. I think they are too closed to the nesting planks. To me they should be on the BH walls and not the ceiling beams. Too close for comfort. If there was a silly mistake the whole nesting planks will be wet and allow those fungus to grow.

9) The idea to remove the exhaust fans and replace with those pvc pipes were okay. However I was a bit disturbed when the owner opt for a white colored pvc pipes. The translucent properties allows too much light into the BH. The owner is not aware about those echolocation ability which those birds possess.

10)The owner have a very strange experience. During one of his visit the lights on the 2nd floor were not switched off. There were a few birds there but there were also a few that were dead on the floor. I cannot make any conclusion but the death could be contributed to getting lost and could not find their way out. Due to hunger or thirst they died.

11) During external sound testing, it seem that those birds do have some special attraction to three sounds "The Black Cloud, Shooting Star and D'Tsunami." Other sounds seem to be of little interest to them. The sound melody shall be a combination of these three plus those mating&baby sound.

12) There were no fake nests on the nesting planks. I remembered he just bought from me about 200 pieces. I need to push him to install during my next visit.

13) No fresh bird shit on the floor. I need to arrange for some during the coming week.

The above are just some interesting observations and remarks that can be of special helps to those of your who faces similar problems.

All you need to do is to try the above recommendations and I am sure there will be some changes in your BH.





Donation: I am sure you have learned something after reading this article. If you feel that the lesson learned deserved an encouragement you can contribute a some donation to this account: Yayasan Kebajikan Nah Sabah, 100930010038410 at Allied Bank, Malaysia.

Budget Speech: Look What Dato Seri Najib Allocated For Swiftlet Farming !!!!

Yesterday our new Prime Minister have deliver his first budget for all Malaysian.

I remember sending him an e-mail asking for 500 million to be allocated for swiftlet farming.

I told him that this God Give business need some help from the Government.

We need our local bank to help in financing the building of swiftlet houses. They are not cheap and all this while those banks are not of any help.

The important point was that he have in fact generated not less then 1.5 billion ringgit from this business. If we want to improve there must be some help from the Government.

Since I was busy with finishing a revamp works in Kepong I was not able to listen to his speeches.

Two calls came and I was very surprised.

"Pak Harry congratulation. Your reqests was answered but not that much your asked for but a faily good amount."

Both caller congratulated me for my bold effort in writing to the Prime Minister.

I posted the letter at: http://swiftletfarming.blogspot.com/2009/10/you-know-what-i-wrote-short-note-to.html

Need to grab a newspaper to read more about what he actually said.

I feel so glad to have written to him.

So people please drop by those banks and ask for their terms and conditions.

Donation: I am sure you have learned something after reading this article. If you feel that the lesson learned deserved an encouragement you can contribute a some donation to this account: Yayasan Kebajikan Nah Sabah, 100930010038410 at Allied Bank, Malaysia.

Guarantee That Those Birds Will Enter But ......

"Pak Harry, thank you for the "Black Cloud" and "Tongkat Ali". Both did bring in lots of birds into my BH however they did not stay long. What do you think are the possible reasons?"

This was the interesting question posted by one of my blog reader who recently purchased two of my very best external sounds collection.

Well I told him that the two sounds are the most powerful sound I ever have. It will bring in lots of birds into any BH. I in fact gave him the guarantee that the birds will "enter" his BH.

What he forgot was that I did not promised that they will stay in the BH.

They will "enter" but to stay or not to stay will greatly dependent on the micro habitats of the house, the flying path in between rooms, the quantity of fungus on those nesting planks, the internal sound being played and etc.

He was really surprised that only a handful birds stays back. The rest "Cabut" or "Ran Away".

What can be the problems?

Well since the birds do enter the house but later they turn back, there must be something in the BH that are not right.

Please check everything that can be the reasons. Make a check list and see what can be the problem then make the necessary adjustments.

If you have done the needful and yet they still refuse to enter, my best advise is to get someone or a third party to inspect for you. May be dr. Harry can be of help.

It is quite normal that you cannot detect the problems yourself. There are just to many possibilities.

If you get the third party to conduct the inspection make sure he brings along with him those tools to check the humidity, temperature of the air in the BH and those walls.

I am very sure there got to be something that are chasing those birds out of the house.

My concience is clear. Those sound that he bought from me did bring those new birds into any BH.

Donation: I am sure you have learned something after reading this article. If you feel that the lesson learned deserved an encouragement you can contribute a some donation to this account: Yayasan Kebajikan Nah Sabah, 100930010038410 at Allied Bank, Malaysia.

The "Kangaroo Pouch" BH Design

While in Sabah, I make some new discoveries.

The best was how one of the designer came out with the idea where he can cheat those wild birds twice.

Just consider this interesting design.

Most of those stand alone BHs that I visited was constructed by the same contractor.

What he did was to locate the entrance hole on the first floor but not the top most floor.

How he did this was but creating a verandah or a Kangaroo Pouch at the second floor. This pouch is extenteded outward by about 5 to 8 feet. The exact location was at the center of the building.

Once those birds fly inside using this pouch entry they will choose to fly down to the ground floor or upward to the top floor or stay on the same second floor.

See usually most BHs place their entrance hole on the highest floor but not in this case.

So if you happened to be those AF you tend to fly upstairs and sorry you are on the wrong floor mate !!! You need to fly to the second floor to exit.

In this was you cheat the birds twice. Once to lure them inside and then they will get lost to the upper floor thinking that that should be the way out.

Genius idea and the birds got cheated twice in a row.

I think the designer is a Graduate from Australia.

The designer's main objective was to let the birds stay as long as they can before flying out.

I was really fascinated with this idea but I am not sure how effective they are in getting the BH nest population up.



Donation: I am sure you have learned something after reading this article. If you feel that the lesson learned deserved an ancourangement you can contribute a some donation to this account: Yayasan Kebajikan Nah Sabah, 100930010038410 at Allied Bank, Malaysia.

Owl Protection In A Stand Alone BH is A Must !!!

"Pak Harry, is it better to build a BH in Town areas or on and Agricultural Land?"

I have received this same question umpteen times.

My answer will be always the same.

"There is a slight advantage to have your BH in town areas as compared to agricultural land. This is mainly due to security plus those birds feeling much safer from those predators."

The biggest culprit are those owl, snake, geckos and most recently added those hornbill birds.

These predators tend to scare those swiftlet if you do not protect your properties.

You need to start putting those protection as early as you can.

Let me relate this hot news from two friend whom I recently met.

They started swiftlet farming way back in 2003. Their first BH unit was constructed somewhere closed to Keyir Dam in Trengganu.

With some knowledge they managed to get their BH population to about 600 nests.

Then during a nightmare visit they found a very strange thing happening to their BH.

The BH floors were littered with lots of birds heads and legs. Yes their bodies missing. The number of birds were much lesser to the extend of 100 pairs estimated.

It seem that the BH was invaded by those jungle owls. These owls when they have an easy picking they are choosing on which body parts to consume. Their target were the swiftlet bodies and not the heads or those tough legs.

From as many as 600 pairs now only left 100 and getting lesser everyday.

It was their biggest nightmares, they were stunted and do know what to do.

It was also their biggest mistakes for not making any efforts to prevent those owls from entering the BH from the beginning.

"Pak Harry when we entered the BH and saw those decapitated birds heads and legs all over the floor we feel so scared and hopeless. It was like wanted to pack and go and forget about swiftlet farming.

Luckily we met someone who offer some strange advise to prevent future massacre by these wild owls.

What they did was to put three protection into each house (now increased to 4 BHs).

1) On every areas closed to the entrance hole where those owl can purged, we install electrical cable able to give a rude shock it those owl's leg should touch them.

2) We got a whole bunch of those syringe needles used by those drug addict and used a kind of those denture's impression clay which when harden they will not breaks. We mix the denture impression clay with water and buried those plastic syringe tube into the soft clay making sure that the head are exposed. The syringe were placed about 2 inches apart. Once the impression clay harden we can now screw the needle onto those protruded screw heads. We place them on the entrance window of all out BHs.

3) The most interesting and very effective is to tie those nylon fishing lines onto the entrance hole. We placed them about eight (8) inches apart to allow those swiftlets to enter but not those owls.

Until today we have never experience any attack by owls or hornbills.

We learned through experiences and that was the worst.

Those steps works and you should write in your blog Pak Harry"



Donation: I am sure you have learned something after reading this article. If you feel that the lesson learned deserved an encouragement you can contribute a some donation to this account: Yayasan Kebajikan Nah Sabah, 100930010038410 at Allied Bank, Malaysia.

Swiftlet Prefer To Build Their Nest On Any Kind Of Fake Nests !!!

If you enter a fairly new BH where do you think those swiftlet will start building their nests?

With so many BHs that I have personally entered these are their preferred locations:

1)90* corners.



This is something very sure and common. They prefer the 90* corners due to many reasons and one of them is security. The 90* corner provide them with two walls and the ceiling as their protection. The left and right nesting planks and the ceiling above gave them the feeling of being very save as compared to the 180* plank surface.

Corner nests are easier and faster to form. The way these nests are build are simply by attaching those saliva string end on one plank and attached the other end to the other plank. The moment that is done the body shape will take place. The time taken to build a nest is much faster as compared to those on the 180 plank surface.

2)Above the Internal sound tweeters.



Well this is another favorite place to find nests. It might be in front above the tweeter's mouth or at the back of the tweeter's buttock/base.



Why on the tweeters?

My logical explanation is that when the young couple entered the pitch dark room they find those tweeters the safest place to be at.

This is mainly due to the fact that the baby birds sound are being played on these tweeters. The sound make them feel that they are very closed to a nest with baby. If the baby is there then there is no predators to snatch their own babies when they start a family.

3) Any Protrusion on the Nesting planks like Fake nests.



This will be the next best locations which you can easily locate those new nests.

According to a study done by Chulalongkon University of Thailand, the most favorite place where those birds prefer to build their nests in any cave ceilings will be those protrusion made on the ceiling or wall surfaces.



I believe the small protrusion will allow easier maneuvering while building those nests. As such any kind of protrusion like fake nests of any kind (paper, plastic, aluminium, string, wires, tweeters, wood strip,nesting planks steel anchors, asbestos hole covers and etc) that provide enough space for those birds to hang to will be their preferred nest building location.



The above observations are just my personal findings and if you want to increase the number of new nests in your BH look into providing these preferred sites.

Try not to put any corner covers in the early stages of your BH. Just try to compare two BHs side by side with you. The neighbor is without any corner covers while you blocked all your corners with corner covers. Which house do you think those birds will love to patronise, assuming other micro habitats are the same?

My advise is to let those birds colonise those 90* corners and once they are used the corners twice you can harvest those nests, one by one, and place the corner covers.

For the case of those tweeters, my advise is to put as many as you can. Just think that your BH have only 20 tweeters. One day there was a colony of birds, say 1000, who came from a broken home, I mean their BH in Padang Indonesia came crumbling down due to those 7.5 Richter scale earthquakes, and find that only 20 pairs have a place to cling to.

They might move to your next door neighbors who have 100 tweeters a floor.



The best rule of the thumb is to put about 1 tweeter per 10 square feet of those nesting areas.

Example: If your BH is 20' X 70' area you can calculate the total area to be equal to 1,400 square feet less about 25% due to the entrance hole, staircase and roving areas then divide by 10.

In this particular example it should be 1400 X 0.75 = 1050. You now push the decimal point by one slot thus becoming 105.0. So the total tweeters would be 105 pieces.

Well since those birds also preferred to build their nests at the 90* angle (VIP housing), you should fix these tweeters not far away from the angle. My advise is not more then 5 inches away from those precious VIP housing areas.

Fake nests, in any form, provide those protrusion for easy latching while building their nests. I will recommend for the first phase of your BH to insert about 50 fake nests in a floor of 20' X 70' size.

Remember these fake nests shall only be used during the period where you want the target number of nests you opt for, say 200 nests. Once you have reached the targeted number you might want to remove them to another BH or another floor of the same BH.

The used fake nests are very attractive to young birds. If you move them to a new BH or a new floor, the young couple will quickly seize the laced property. They feel more like staying in a house which was once occupied and surely it is a safe place to build a family.

Well I hope this new article gave you some ideas on what is good for your new or underperformed BHs.

Donation: I am sure you have learned something after reading this article. If you feel that the lesson learned deserved an ancourangement you can contribute a some donation to this account: Yayasan Kebajikan Nah Sabah, 100930010038410 at Allied Bank, Malaysia.

D'Awesome Trial Run At Kepong BH !!!

Today was my second day rehabilitating the Kepong sick BH.

Managed to get two new partition walls up, installed additional internal tweeters, fake nests and did some cleaning on the nesting planks.

I was very surprised with the amount of dirt on those nesting planks.

It never crossed my mind that those planks are very dirty probably due to those dust from the BH floor. Monday will apply a layer of those aroma on all those planks.

The best was the result of D'Awesome.

At around 4.00pm stop the rehabilitation works and what I wanted to see was how mu new sound works. It was very encouraging.

Most of those wild birds passing by will turn towards the entrance hole and enter into the house.

From 7.00 pm till darkness I tallied about 155 birds on the first day of testing. Well a sick BH with only 12 fully developed nests now have 155 birds. I think the new sound was working.

I am hoping that once the BH was completed with all those heat insulation works completed, there will be more entering and perhaps stays. My only concerned was how long the sound will stay effective???







Donation: I am sure you have learned something after reading this article. If you feel that the lesson learned deserved an encouragement you can contribute a some donation to this account: Yayasan Kebajikan Nah Sabah, 100930010038410 at Allied Bank, Malaysia.

Started The Rehabilitation Of Kepong BH !!!

Today started the rehabilitation works on a very sick BH in Kepong, Selangor.

The BH have been in operation for at least 1.5 years. The cost of conversion was almost 40,000 ringgit.

Total size of the BH was about 35 feet by 70 feet with 10 feet ceiling height.

After very little progress and very poor micro habitats there were only about 14 nests and 5 markings (must be old one).

With 14 nests after 1.5 years in operation I classify this BH as a very sick BH.

I was given the tasks to revamp the unit about three weeks ago and only today managed to assemble all the things required plus those workers.

My criteria will be:

1) To minimise those heat coming from the walls facing evening sun. They were so hot like a sauna room. I managed to order a special bubble heat shield from Setiawan for this task.

2) To create a VIP room at the back of the BH. This will be the preferred place for those birds to stay. The room will be about 15 feet from the back wall.

3) To relocate the entrance hole from the roving into nesting.

4) To erect a partition to block excessive light from this new entrance hole.

5) To replace all external sound tweeters and rewired into two.

6) To install a number of external sound tweeters in the BH.

7) To increase the number of internal sound tweeters from current of 20 to 100 tweeters.

8) To conduct a trial in using a specialised nesting planks that are laced with special aroma.

9) To upgrade the sound system so that there will be a wild party in the BH from 5:30pm till 7:30pm.

10) New sounds shall be introduced to pull all the birds that pass by and from the neighbors.

11) To use a number of the new soundless humidifiers to cool and increase the BH humidity.

12) To install nothing less then 50 fake nests in the house to lure those birds to stay.

13) To try a new aroma so that the birds will become crazy in staying and not leaving after entering the BH.

14) To install a suitable exhaust fan to pull fresh air every morning.

15) To make the BH more pungent with fresh bird shits and ammonia odor.

Took a lot of trouble to capture all the things that are not right for future references.

All those nests, marking on the nesting planks, the preferred nesting areas, the wall that were causing those hot wave and the current roving area.

I am sure once the new design is up those birds will change their preferred nest making areas.

Hope to finish the job within 5 to 7 working days.

Will report any interesting progress once back into operation.

If you happened to face similar BH sickness problem just call this number 017 755 1318.

Let me help to restore those shattered dreams and bring those wide smile back to your face.




























Donation: I am sure you have learned something after reading this article. If you feel that the lesson learned deserved an ancourangement you can contribute a some donation to this account: Yayasan Kebajikan Nah Sabah, 100930010038410 at Allied Bank, Malaysia.

Looking For Volunteers To Test A New Birdsound D'Awesome !!!

After my successful trip to Sabah and receiving a few comments from a number of my blog readers, I recently decided to create possible good sound from my current collection.

What I did was to assembled about 5 of the best external and internal sounds and choose the best part of all.

All those effective sounds that were tested in Sabah were my focal point.

I name the sound as D'Awesome (I hope it will be).

Now I need some volunteers to test it for me to know exactly how the sound perform at various locations in the country or in other countries.

I placed a string/discussion in bird sound forum and please read the list of criterias in it.

Go to: http://groups.google.com/group/swiftletsound/browse_thread/thread/2f2c34e0039dbeb5?hl=en-GB for more details.

I have very high hope that this new sound will do good to all those who have difficulties in populating their BHs.

Help me so that I can do more for you.

Please come forward to be one of the 12 volunteers and if the sound perform well the sound is your at a fraction of the real cost.

Send you application to harryswiftlet@yahoo.com and please use this Title: Application to conduct birdcall test: D'AWESOME.

The number of volunteers is limited to about 12 people and I want it to be well distributed in as many towns as possible.

If you are not successful please try again in my next new sound.

Just pray that this new sound will be effective and all of us can use to populate our BHs.

List of Applicants so far (subject to approval):

1)Musa Bin Tar (Kuching) 2)Chu Cheng Tai (Sepang) 3)Kenny Tham (Semeyih) 4)Zakaria Sysnet (Kuala Trengganu) 5)Azimullah (Rawang) 6)Dr Koh (Sibu) 7)Randy (Balikpapan) 8)Hang Lian (Endau) 9)Ittisak (Thailand) 10)


Donation: I am sure you have learned something after reading this article. If you feel that the lesson learned deserved an encouragement you can contribute a some donation to this account: Yayasan Kebajikan Nah Sabah, 100930010038410 at Allied Bank, Malaysia.

If You Want To Increase Those Nests Population !!!

In my 7 years of involvement with swiftlet farming I can say that most of those BH that failed are directly due to the level of knowledge of the owners.

Most of the time the failures are linked to how much knowledge the owner accumulated and what tools does he has with him to cure his BH "sickness". Most of them are too dependant on their so call "Consultant" or "Contractor" who built the BHs.

The owner put so much trust on the 2 "Cons" and never a day took their own initiatives to learn a few important points about how to look after the BH themselves.

It never come to their mind that one day the "Cons" will be too busy with other projects in hand and have little time to deliver all those sweet promises.

Some "Cons" will try many unthinkable methods to make the BH owners to be dependent on them for as long as the BH is in operation.

In Sabah I came across a funny way of ensuring that your BH will forever under this "Cons".

What the consultant did was to use those elephant glue and stick those USB sound thumb drive into all the players. In this way no one will be able to change those sounds without his consent.



The irony of this type of selfish actions was that event if the sounds were no longer effective the owner cannot replace those sounds because they were glued to the sound player unit.

You cannot even test a good sound if you happened to come across.

So I coined a word for this kind of action as "Elephant Glue Syndrome". I was very amused with this kind of strange behaviours but that was one good way of ensuring that he will have the full control of all those BHs that he put his hand into.

In Raub, I visited a stand alone BH recently. After my short inspection I did installed one of my powerful birdcall sound "BlockBuster". Within a few short minutes after playing the new sound, out of no where those swiftlets starts to come back to the entrance hole.

The joy shown on the face of the owner was so satisfying. He began to smile and he seem to realised that those over dependent on his consultant was not working.

I gave him a three pages list of things to do.

A few days ago he called and voiced his opinions.

"Pak Harry, this is Mr.Y from Raub. You remember the BH with two birds after 12 months in operation? You know something? After your visit and playing your new sound "BlockBuster" those birds have began to enter my BH. Thank you Pak Harry. Since they have started to enter, I would like to delay the modification works that you proposed. Is that okay?"

Well since it was his BH I told him to perhaps delay the revamp works for a few months and check the number of new nests in the BH. If they are too slow then we might need to carry out those revamp works. It was all up to him I stressed.

The point here is that if there are no birds playing at the entrance hole you need to get your hand on new sounds that can change the situation.

Remember no flying birds at the entrance hole, there will be no new nests in hour precious BH.

You need to have at least three good external sounds and perhaps two for your internal sounds.

You cannot effort to have only one for each and too dependant on your consultants to change the sounds.

The rule of the game is once there are no birds circling on your BH roof top or at the entrance hole you need to replace the sound.

You should be the one who decide when to change the sound and not the consultants.

Make sure you get those sounds from someone that you trust or have a good track records. Not those you got free or from those shops you visited recently. These unproven sound tracks might shoo those birds away. In no time all your permanent tenants will move out.

Foolproof method is to get someone who owns a good collection of good sounds and ask him to come and test all the good sound that he has using your BH amplifiers. Every time he play those sound you check how many birds responded and how do they behaves.

During his trip to test those sounds, ask him to do some checking on all your sound equipment. I am not suprised if most of your amplifiers are not properly sets. 80% of all those BHs I visited have flaws in the amplifiers setting. The control knobs were not in a proper operating positions as such those sounds are not giving out the optimum frequencies to attract more birds into your BH.


Good sound are those that will bring all those birds in the vicinity and upon arrival they will enter the entrance hole. Remember it is better to use a sound that brings 10 birds and all of them entered your BH. No use to brings 100 birds and not a single enter your BH.

Once you have seen with your own eyes the actual responses from those wild birds you then choose the best from those collection. Pay the guy what he deserved and you now got the most powerful sounds in your collection.

Think wisely, follow the right methods and get the best sounds for your expensive BHs. What you need are those nests population and not an empty BH !!!!!!

(If you need some good sound call 017 755 1318. Guarantee it will work and you have less headache in searching the right sound suitable for your BH)

Donation: I am sure you have learned something after reading this article. If you feel that the lesson learned deserved an ancourangement you can contribute a some donation to this account: Yayasan Kebajikan Nah Sabah, 100930010038410 at Allied Bank, Malaysia.

Local Rules On Swiftlet Farming Around Airports !!!

On The Star Newspaper October 14th 2009, Metro.

Found at: http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2009/10/14/central/4700542&sec=central


Swiftlet farms to stay


By OH ING YEEN
Photos by S.S.KANESAN


THERE is a boom in swiftlet farming in Sepang, but the authorities are concerned that some of these birds may get in the way of aircraft using the KL International Airport (KLIA).

The Sepang Municipal Council (MPSp), which had stopped issuing permits for swiftlet breeding in the municipality, had directed the breeders to move 40km away from KLIA as there have been cases of birds getting sucked into the engines when they fly too close to the aircraft.

The Sepang Swiftlets Merchants Association (SSMA), meanwhile, argue that the birds which get tangled in the aircraft engines are not swiftlets, thus there is no basis for the swiftlet farmers to relocate.


Flight grounded: Workers inspecting the blades of an engine on a United Airlines Boeing 757 at the Denver airport after a bird was sucked in shortly after takeoff in January. — AP

MPSp president Azizan Mohamad Sidin said the laws pertaining to swiftlet breeding were clear and the farmers must comply with the ruling.

“The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) guidelines state that swiftlet farmers must operate outside the 40km radius of the KL International Airport (KLIA).

“It is dangerous when the birds fly into the engines especially during take-off as it can cause the aircraft to crash,” said Azizan.

ISSMA secretary Mah Swee Lye said during a meeting held last week with MPSp and Malaysia Airport Berhad (MAB), it was decided that the existing swiftlet farmers did not have to relocate.

“The airport authorities suspect that the birds getting tangled into aircraft were swiftlets but there was no proof from Perhilitan to back their claims.

“It will take between two and three years for a DNA report to determine the species of birds that get tangled in the engines.

“They should get proof and provide data on how many accidents have been caused by swiftlets before asking the farmers to relocate,” he said.


Business as usual: An aircraft flying over a swiftlet farm near Sungai Pelek, Sepang.
According to Mah, there are about 100 swiftlet breeders in Sepang and Kuala Langat.

“The existing farmers in Sepang will carry on with their farming but there is a temporary freeze on permits for new breeders.

“In Palembang and Surabaya, Indonesia, there are more swiftlet farmers there but there are no complaints,” he said.

According to information provided by the council, MAB will conduct an in-depth study on the effects of swiftlet breeding on KLIA. They will appoint consultants and present the study to the airport authorities.

MAB will also collect data on birds getting tangled in the engines of aircraft in Kuching and Sibu and also airports in Indonesia.

With the cooperation of the association, the council will obtain data of the exact location of swiftlet farms in Sepang.

This is to identify the number of swiftlets and its colonies in Sepang.

Meanwhile, MPSp councillor Lau Weng Chan felt that swiftlet farming should not be allowed near airports.

“It is too risky. And it won’t be good if foreigners know that swiftlets or any other birds are near the airports,” she said.

Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said while it had yet to be proven whether swiftlets were the species of birds getting tangled in aircraft around the KLIA area, it might contribute to the risk.

“In aviation, we have to take all precautionary measures. Bird strike is treated seriously because it causes damage to aircraft.

“Migratory birds are one of the factors especially when they fly from south to north. ” he said.



Donation: I am sure you have learned something after reading this article. If you feel that the lesson learned deserved an ancourangement you can contribute a some donation to this account: Yayasan Kebajikan Nah Sabah, 100930010038410 at Allied Bank, Malaysia.

Two Unique BHs In Sabah Major Town !!!

Two heavyweights that will be a very successful swiftlet ventures.

I was given a short tour of two sizable BHs in Sabah. They were located somewhere in a major town and I the signs after just three to five months were impressive.

The best among the two was the CarPark being converted into BH.

It seem that due to poor location of the carpark the owner decided to convert the second last floor into a BH. He started with half the floor and will look at its progress if they works well he intended to cover the whole floor. If that too looks good he might want to convert the whole building.

I can just listen to the tales of how the bulding was turned from an abandoned buildings and now turned into a money making building.

The most interesting was the VIP room located at the back of the floor. This room seem to be heavily populated then the rest of the floor. I find it very advisable to place a VIP room at the back of every BH. Minimum is 12 feet width.

There must be some good reasons but the darkness, cool temperature and humidity might be the great attraction.

The second unit was pretty high, about five floor and big. Two floors were converted and the third will soon follow suit.

Both unit have some kind of their uniqueness. The entrance hole of the carpark unit was directly facing the city while the funiture shop was closed to a river (water source).

My gut feeling is that these two will be a major attraction in Sabah.

Who knows it might be a tourist attraction phenomena soon.


Donation: I am sure you have learned something after reading this article. If you feel that the lesson learned deserved an ancourangement you can contribute a some donation to this account: Yayasan Kebajikan Nah Sabah, 100930010038410 at Allied Bank, Malaysia.

The Shooting Star Sound Was Born!!!

This special article have something to do with the birdcall tests conducted in Kota Kinabalu.

I normally will carry my Acer mini computer with me and inside it are all those selected sounds that I know will be suitable for any BH.

While in KK one of my blog reader insisted to carry out some test using his completed BH.

Since I have never carry out such test in other people BHs I was curious to find out the actual behaviours of those wild birds when different sounds were played.

We started with "Tongkat Ali". Immediately after the sound was played those birds starts to gather around the entrance hole and some will start to enter the BH.The number of circles they make before entering the hole was about 2 to three times.

This behaviour have it own advantages and disadvantages. The circular movements will actually attracts more birds to the house. The disadvantage will be in the possibility of them to enter other people's BH around you.

After 20 minutes of playing and satisfied with all that came enter the hole we switched the sound to D'Honey.

The birds behaviours were almost the same. This time we can see that the circular movement is about 1.5 circle and zoom the enter the hole.

The behaviour patterns is slightly better then the Tongkat Ali but lesser in number of birds responded.

The third sound was marvellous. I called it as "Shooting Star". This third sound seem to make those birds jump straight into the hole without making any circular motions.



The way they entered was more like being those aeroplane that were short of their jet fuel and they need to land immediately. Or else they will land in the ditch.

Everyone needs to clear the way and straight they go.

I was suprised and puzzled with the results.

How come different sounds have different effect to those birds?

What makes them move in different patterns when we played different sounds?

What would be the most perfect sound to those birds?

I am sure no one can gives me a logical explainations.

My hope is that one day I will find out more about this weired behaviours.

The best lesson that I learned during the call test was that you need to be very observant. Look at the behaviours of every birds that approach the entrance hole and focus on how they enter the hole.

Do they make one circular motion or two or non? How many birds are flying inside the house and how many are flying out?

By knowing their behaviour you can easily judge which sound is good and which are not.

Maybe you should call Pak Harry to bring all good sounds in his collection and test at least 10 of them.

Choose the top three or five and use them in rotation. By adorpting this technique, you are sure of buying a good sound. A set of sounds that are suitable for your area and no guessing works.

Pay a reasonable fee to him but you will no longer have this weired feeling that those sounds are useless. Yes, get the right sound from the beginning. It is better to use the right sound then getting into trouble using a trial and error methods.


Remember wrong sounds will make your BH empty.


Donation: I am sure you have learned something after reading this article. If you feel that the lesson learned deserved an ancourangement you can contribute a some donation to this account: Yayasan Kebajikan Nah Sabah, 100930010038410 at Allied Bank, Malaysia.

All You Can Eat Durian Party At Damai Point, KK !!!

What can you do when you have a Durian orchard with 20,000 fruits to harvest?

Well trow a "Durian Party" at a busy street. A free for all kind of thing.



This was what happened when I was with the owner of the Durian Plantation.

In the beginning I thought he was joking. However he keep telling me that he has invited many people who are closed to him including the ADUN who hold the Agricultural Ministery for Sabah.

The Free For All Durian Party started around 10.00 am and the croud started to increased when the news got around.

Many happy faces and who will not be happy to eat the best durian species brought in twenty years ago to be planted in Sabah by Mr.G and friends.

I told Mr.G that was the best oneMalaysia party trown by him.

Then came the press photographer who wanted to cover the even for his newpaper. I was dragged in to be beside the ADUN.

The next day I was in the 3rd page of Daily Express.

What a coincident and there was on the Daily in Sabah.

Welcome To Sabah, said Mr G.