Where Do You Think The Entrance Door ???

Have a good look at the above nest and ask yourself this question:

How to enter this nest?

I was flipping through my old photos taken at Bukit Selambau Kedah BH and saw this strange phenomena.

The bird have in fact shut down the entrance to their nest.

Can you guess what actually went wrong with this BH?

If you observe the picture carefully you will realize something about the way the internal sound tweeter was installed.

This particular BH have this unrecomended way of tweeters installation.

The so called consultant have this weird idea of tweeters arrangement.

All his internal sound tweeters were actually installed as such that they will touch the ceiling at one end and the wood at the other end.

It actually will slant at about 45 degrees angled.

Main reason was to discourage these gifted birds a proper place to built their nests except on those wooden planks.

But if observed carefully the birds still choose anywhere possible that is closed proximity with the tweeter.

My personal opinion is that you should not make life very difficult with these special creature but let them have what they like to have.

Install all your tweeters in a positive manner so that you welcome them to built their nest above, below or at its side if they wish to.

Why are you forcing them and make life difficult for them.

Remember by philosophy:  "Give anything that the wanted even if they want to watch ASTRO football matches just give them."

What you are here for after building an expensive BH is to populate them to the maximum.

Why must you torture these beautiful creature and force them to build where your like.

Just remember to get them to be your tenant is not an easy task.  If you know they like something give it to them.

If you are smart you will follow my ideas but if you don't ......

Sad That The Owner Wanted To Part With Their BHs !!!

(Sample of nesting wood with nests markings)

Two owners who wanted to part with their BH operation.

One was from Johor and the other was from Penang.

The one from Johor have a new found business and wanted to focus on it.

The one in Penang was more due to the final decision made by his finance director to let it go.

The Johor owner once called me to inspect his BH.  At that time the number of nest was around 60 and I drop by on April 21st 2012.

After reviewing his BH status I set down for a cup of coffee and I wrote a 11 pages report on what he needed to do.

I also offer him a new set of sounds.

After revamping the BH right to the dot to what I asked him to do his BH nests flourished.

Now after 11 months the nests numbers hit 200 plus nests and he wanted to move on to other business opportunities.

"Pak Harry I wanted to sell my BH.  Thank you for helping me to improve the nests numbers. I followed all that you recommended. (Sabijik) and most of them are not staying in the VIP room."

According to him he did a force harvest in December 2012 and the nest numbers increased quite substantial.

He is looking for a quick buyer and what he offer is cheap and affordable.

RM40,000 for the unit and you need to continue with the rental of RM1500 per month plus electricity bull of RM50 a month.

A few buyers called but due to the location ie Johor Bahru those from KL declined to make the trip.

The second person who also opt to sell his BH was the owner of a BH located at Paya Terubong Penang.

"Pak Harry sorry to tell you that me and wife and decided to sell the BH to the 4D tenant using the lowest floor.  It was mainly due to the type of business (gaming) renting the ground floor makes my wife to chase them out.  At the same time we offer him to buy the whole unit.  He recently decided to stay and buy over the unit." his explanation.

So what about the BH on the top floors.

"Well he do not want them and have asked me to remove them". he replied.

"Pak Harry can you do something with those planks with nests and the rest of the items?" he asked.

My reply to him was to get a close friend who own BH to consider buying those planks with nests.  I will be very happy to help in the trans-location.

My idea is to take down the nesting planks with nests and cut them into proper length to help during transportation to a new BH.

Once they are at the new site we can install them appropriately without damaging the nests or nest markings on them.

I am not sure if this was done before but I think the first for me to carry out this interesting trans-location idea.

Those who wanted to learn more about this or have interest to buy those planks with nests please call 017 7551318 to negotiate the transfer.

Dengkil: The One And Only !!!

I wanted to include this article as a matter of my record.

The above picture was taken inside this BH in Dengkil Selangor during my revamp works.

This was the only nest in the three stories high BH after being put into operation for almost 8 months.

The nest was found on the top most floor very closed to the monkey house roving area.

With my relocation of the main entrance door connecting the roving room and the nesting room the area where the nest was at will be brighther and there is a strong chance that the bird will move out.

I gave my prediction to the owner that the tenant of the nest will give up the nest and move further in.

Main reason being the light from the monkey house coming via the connecting door will be too bright.

As such they will feel unsafe thus will need to find another darker area that will make them feel safer.

This was just my prediction and we shall see if it will be as per my prediction.

The said nest was still under construction and about 3/4 finished with no egg yet.

Usually they will not run away once they have started building their nest inside.

Let monitor the nest progress and I hope my prediction is correct.

My Original Objective Was To Bring Them To The Lowest Floor !!!

(The wrongly located LAL)

When I first visited this BH in Dengkil Selangor I told the owner that the chances of any birds to fly down to the lowest floor will be closed to zero.

(The second LAL was also in the middle)

I gave his a few long reasoning and they were as follows:

1) The most important was the wrong positioning of the LAL. 

Most BH that does well will most birds will stay at the ground floor will have its LAL is one straight line at 45 degrees flying angle. The LAL will allow the light from the entrance window to the reach the lowest ground.

The Dengkil BH designed was with this common flaw where the two LAL were somewhere in the middle of the top most floor and the second was also in the middle of the second floor.

Weir and wrongly located, I stressed to the owner.

2) I believed in the important of morning sunlight to enter a BH and guide these tenats out of the BH as early in the morning as possible.

If you wanted to build a new BH try to look at the sun path.  The most important is where is the east direction.

You know that every morning the sun will rise in the east and moved to the west.

Your BH entrance hole should be facing to the east.  It might not be perfect east but at least north east or south east.

Remember if you face your main entrance hole to the west, your BH will have those light a bit later as compared to facing the east.

The time to wake up and fly out to hunt for food is at a disadvantage to these birds if you face the west.

The Dengkil BH main entrance hole was facing the west.

3) The was nothing to guide those swiftlet to fly down to the lowest floor.

I have this believed that swiftlet are very stubborn and lazy.  Just try to imagine of you first baby waking up in the morning to attend his tadika school.

He will usually find every excuses not to wanting to go to school because he love to sleep.

If you do not force him up he will not wakes up even for breakfast with you.

Similarly with these swiftlet.

Once they entered your BH they will usually find ways and means not to fly too far away from the entrance hole and will choose the location that will  be the easiest path to fly to.

Going downstairs is not an easy thing to do unless being forced to do so.

4) There were nothing special to lure them to stay on the ground floor.

What accessories can you used to make those birds to choose the lowest floor?

For this Dengkil BH there was nothing.

No partitions, no kite tweeters, the sound volume was almost the same as the rest of the floor and so on.

By nature we know that the lowest floor of any BH will be the most conducive   This is due to the fact that they are cooler and darker.  The humidity of the lowest floor is generally higher.

But to get those birds downstairs you need to do more.


The above four points need to be properly understood.

If you can learn how to get them to the lowest floor, I think you will be the champion in swiftlet industry.

Please try to learn more about this subject matter and see if you mastered it before you start erecting a BH of your own.

Try not to totally dependent on your so call Bird house consultant.

He will usually , 90%, will disappoint you.

(Original path to the first LAL)

(LAL was at the middle and nothing to guide those birds to fly to the LAL)

(Open floor with no partitions to guide those birds)

(I later installed some partitions to guide those visitors to fly towards the LAL)

(I make it compulsory for every visitor to fly above the LAL)

(Beside the top LAL they also were forced to fly towards the second LAL)

(The entry door to the second floor)

(The LAL will guide those birds to fly to the lowest floor)

(Positioning of those external sound tweeters around the LAL perimeter are crucial)

What I discovered during our test operation, a number of birds were found on the lowest floor.

It works and it was the most pleasurable result that proved that my theory was right after all.

I Wanted To Record The Bird Shit Spots On The Walls !!!

(The view of the walls at the main door into the BH inside the roving area)

My favourite method to check if a BH is having visitors or not is by inspecting the monkey house walls.

Those that do not have monkey house I will look at the roving room.

The number of bird shit spots splashed on these walls will actually give you a very clear signs on the number of birds that visited the BH before you entered.

All this while I thought those shit markings were territorial markings however during my last meeting with a famous Sibu Vets he says it was something else.

"Dr K, what is your opinion about those bird shit spots on the monkey house or roving rooms walls?" I asked.

His answer:

Actually it has something to do with the effect when those bird apply their speed breake.  Most of them will fly at a high speed and once they entered your Monkey house they need to slow down.  This will cause some of the body muscle to squeeze to control the speed.  When this happened they will squeeze their bowel thus forces either their urine or shit out.

You see those white colored shit or liquid are actually their urine while black color solid are shit.

Hmm... a very interesting new theory from a Vet.

I learned something new and I think there are some common sense in his explanation.

You might have other explanations but try me.

At Dengkil BH I took a number of photos to keep inside my record folder.  Let us see how will it grow and with the growth we can safely says that the BH is doing well receiving lots of visitors.

If the number is great but the nests numbers are low we know that there must be something not right with our BH internal design.

It might be the darkness not right or the high temperature or too dry inside.

If you cannot determine the reason get some one who knows the answer.

Get him over and ask his for a full report what he thinks are wrong with your BH.

Insist for some recommendations on how to correct these errors.

Follow his recommendations and I am sure you will change the fate of your BH.

If you cannot find someone who have the experience to diagnose your BH problem call 017 7551318.

I am sure he will be happy to help you with your BH problems.

(The wall nearest the two tweeters at the main door)

(From the door facing the main entrance window)

(Looks pretty clean on this wall to the right of the entrance window)

(Also not many bird shit spots a more to the right)

(This is the wall facing the main entrance window with morning light entrance.  A bit more bird shit spots on the wall)

( To the right of the wall shows more signs of those bird shit spots)

(The same wall to the right got some spots)

Back to the wall beside the tweeter hanged on the wall

The Multiple Usage Of Super Pheromone Liquid !!!

Last night after dinner a BH owner called for a short meeting and told me to bring a container of the Super Pheromone liquid.

I met him with the 5 liter liquid and briefly advised him on what he do to improve the nest population in his new BH located some where in Dungun Trengganu.

Prior to getting the liquid pheromone he bought the canister type and tried for about two months.

What make him to order the liquid was the effectiveness shown after using the canister pheromone.

He used the product mainly to anchor his new tenant.

Every time he carry out his BH monthly inspection he will try to look around for any new bird shit spots on the floor.

If the spots were fresh and there were more than 10 shits he will try to locate the exact spot where they were  sleeping.

Once the precise location was located he will spray twice with the canisterised pheromone.

His experiment works and according to him immediately after spraying those couples will stick to the same place and will immediately start to spit saliva markings onto the resting areas.  Soon the saliva will become thicker and more visible after less than 3 weeks.

It seems that the pheromone will cause the birds to start producing more saliva once they return home from their daily hunting.

The smell of the pheromone do have some kind of effect on their saliva producing glands.

Once the smell entered their lungs they will start to generate more saliva and this will bring a few benefits to your BH.

The couple affected by the smell will quickly start building their nest.

The nest will grow at a much faster rate.

The size of the nest will be normally larger if adequate amount of pheromone were sprayed.

Once they mate and laid the first egg, the couple will be your until they die.

My advise to the BH owner last night was to continue applying the liquid on the nest until they laid the first egg.  Stop after that.

"Pak Harry, what else can I do with the liquid?" his next question.

Well if I were you try to think of various methods on how to retain the old tenants and secure the new tenants.

Let us look at the application of this liquid onto the spot after your harvest those nests.

If you can once you harvest try to apply the liquid and I am sure the tenant will return and will quickly build a new nest within less then 2 weeks at the same spot.

You might want to use the liquid to make those nests become larger.  Try to apply on any nests that were under construction.  See if their nest will be larger as compared to not being sprayed with the liquid.

What you are doing now to anchor those new tenants by applying the liquid onto the spots where new tenant stayed is a good way to get more new tenants to stay put inside your BH. Once they return home and smell the liquid they will become intoxicated and will usually anchored inside.

You might want to think of using the liquid inside those hanging garden bottles.  Remember it is a expensive stuff so try to be careful when you use it.

You might want to look into applying these liquid onto those fake nests.  Once you have installed those fake nests onto the nesting planks you can spray or apply with those brush.  Just one layer will do.

The next idea is to focus on those corner covers.  Choose those corner covers that are located inside your VIP rooms and remote with total darkness.  Apply the liquid and see what happened.

Try to master the use of the liquid and I believed you will soon see your tenant will grow much faster as compared to before using it.

Best of luck to you.

Those who wanted to try please call 017 7551318 now.

 

Dengkil BH Was Put Into Operation Today !!!

At last the Dengkil BH was back into full operation today after 10 days under revamp.

Glad that the moment the sound was switched on those swiftlet seems to play at the monkey house and many entered.

Today I took some time to tidy some loose ends.

The most important was to get the right external sound that fit the location.

After testing for a few hours I finally decided with this new sound which I called "Super Exotica".

A very new sound that I discovered from my sound library.

The moment the sound was played you can see a stream of those wild birds attacking nearly all those tweeters installed at the entrance hole and around the monkey house.

A good choice among the many that were tested.

The whole BH was sprayed with wall aroma spiked with ammonia bicarbonate.

The ground floor was properly wet and those wet floor areas were flooded to the maximum.

I managed to install additional fake nests on the ground and middle floor.

There were about 20 bottles filled with raw nest water installed as what I normally called hanging garden.

After shutting the door I told the caretaker not to enter the BH until I decided to come for the 1st inspection.

My plan is to visit within the next four weeks.

I raised some concerns on the electrical supply.

Every time there was those lightning the electrical system with shut down.

I reminded the caretaker to be aware about this problem and to make sure the sound will be switched on if it failed.

An Interesting Story From Endau, Pahang !!!

This story is about how those birds stop entering after 5 months into operation.

I was in Dengkil Selangor repairing a sick BH and received a phone call from Pahang.

"Pak Harry I called you once and bought a number of sounds from you.  You know something.  After following your advise and played those beautiful sounds the birds started to enter my new BH. After a while they went missing." She stop for a while to take a deep breath.

I asked her what actually went wrong.

"You see I read your blog and install lots of tweeters as per those pictures.  The birds likes them however the BH population started to drop when my hubby started to remove all those things that were initially installed.  What happened was that prior to the incident he invited his own sifu to look at the BH and this sifu who claimed to be very experienced told my hubby what was wrong with the BH.  My hubby started to remove those tweeters and change here and there.  As the result the birds population now went down drastically."  he continued.

So what can I do to help you?  I asked.

"Pak Harry I need to change the sounds and perhaps apply those super pheromone." she commented.


My answer to her was okay with me but if you can after you make the changes please keep me inform.

If it still does not work let me have a look at your BH.  It might be more than what you expected.

There must be some big problem with you BH. I told her.

I have never met her before and I hope my short advise on the mobile phone will be good enough.

Good luck to her.

Pak Harry I Need The Pheromone Solution !!!

( Illustration picture after being sprayed with super pheromone)

I came to know that a new "Super Pheromone" user whose BH is in Dungun, Trengganu have a very interesting development after using the spray.

At first he wanted a canister just to try.

After less than 3 weeks he called for a bottle (5 liters) of the raw liquid concentrate.

"Pak Harry I can see very interesting results after spraying the Super Pheromone onto those markings and newly built nests.  Once applied they somewhat developed at a much faster rate.  I believed it is working in my BH and now I wanted the liquid concentrate." he said on the phone.

So what is wrong to continue using the canistered pheromone, I asked for his comment.

"Well when the canister is about to be finishing the liquid have no ump any more and I feel not nice.  I prefer to have the liquid if you can allow me."  he answered.

I told him that I got one more bottle but it is in a 5 litre bottle and it will be a bit expensive.

"I am okay with it as long as you can confirm that the liquid concentrate it the same as those liquid filled inside those canisters."  he advise.

My only answer was that I ordered from the developer and he confirmed that it is the same liquid.

This new development is encouranging.

It started to show some positive outcome in Peninsular.

I tested in Penang and it was doing well and now in Dungun.

I did a lot of sprays onto those newly harvested nests after a force harvest operation at Bukit Selambau BH.  You know what happen?

Last Sunday I visited the Bukit Selambau BH and did some checks on those nests.

Very encouraging and most of them were reconstructed and the shit spots below them were fresh.

Many have a kind of double effects.

Yeh they have a kind of new tenants on the other side where the old tenant were constructing their old nests.

Another very interesting discovery that I need to do a bit more research before making any conclusion.

I plan to take some photos and see if this new discovery is true.

If it is than we can add another usefulness of using the super pheromone and I believe every one should know about this interesting new observation.

New Photos On Those Nests !!!

Received some new photos taken from a BH after those selected areas were sprayed with the "Super Pheromone".

A few day ago a BH owner from Lok Kawi, Sabah called and asked me if I have received a few photos that she recently send.

Oh yes I told her and I was very pleased that she wanted to share her experiences after using the pheromone.

A bit of her history:

I met her about a year and half ago and we met at least four times usually in Kota Kinabalu.

The first time we met we came to fetch me from my hotel and took me over to see her unique BH.

The word unique is inspiring and unbelievable in her case.

She literally converted her master bed room into a BH.

I was speechless when I first visited and shook my head but admired her determination.

She said that we wanted to learn as much as she can and could not afford to erect a BH on its own yet.

Well I went along and told her what to do and not to do.

The best advise was on the use of proper internal and internal sounds.

I also stressed to her to ensure that the flying path for those birds to enter the monkey house to the nesting room be smooth and not with sharp cornering.

After making some adjustments and playing some of my best sounds the vacant BH started to show some activities.

She was still not satisfied and followed my blog for more new gadgets to help her to improve her situation.

When I described about the "Super Pheromone" she took a bold step to call me and asked for a few canisters.

This was where things changed to the better.

Following my instructions on how to make it works she was shocked with the total results obtained.

"Pak Harry I am so happy that this new spray works so well in my BH and the number of birds staying now is more that what I expected and more nests are forming. Thank you for being so kind to help me with my BH."

To prove that the pheromone works she sent these photos recently taken:

What she did was something new to me but she confirmed that it works.

The first thing that she did was to get those wild swiftlet to enter her master bedroom by using the best sound in her sound library. I think she was using this sound called "KingKong".

Once they have entered and there are fresh bird shit spots on the floor she will spray the pheromone on those area where these new tenants are staying for the night.

Using this technique will actually get these new couple to anchor themselves at that spot for the rest of their life.

The pheromone smell will in actual sense activate the production of saliva to start erecting their nest base.

If the same spot is sprayed a few more times, the nest base will get larger and more saliva will be deposited.

Her experience was that within three days after the first spray the base will be so clear and you can safely concluded that your new tenant is confirmed to be yours.

After the third day she will spray one more time and this will accelerate the saliva deposits.

The nests after about two-three weeks will be more or less ready to receive the first egg.

A beautiful experience and I am glad that she wanted to share with all my blog reader.

Follow her method and I am sure you will get the same result.