Bird House Update

Visited my bird house last Wednesday. Well as expected, the number of bird nest has increased to more than 10. I did not count the exact number because there are more then 10 swiftlets flying inside the bird house. I don't want to spend too much time inside the bird house.

There are many new spots of fresh bird shit on the floor. The nest that was built at the other corner of the bird house which I believe was swiftlet from another colony has about 4 new spots of bird shit beside the nest. Probably the swiftlet has invited his friends to have come and join him.

Let me share with you something that my consultant friend has taught me. When my bird nest remain at 1 number for a few months, my consultant friend think that it might be because of cockroach or lizard problem. So he placed 1 plate of the cockroach bait (product from China) at the corner of the floor. I asked him whether 1 plate is enough to cover the whole bird house and he said that it is enough. After placing the bait, the number of nest started to improve. Now every time I visit the bird house, I have to add additional bait inside the plate because the plate is always empty. It shows that the cockroach or lizard are eating the bait.

During this visit, I have brought along a new broom, dust pan and waste plastic bags. Did not need to use it yet, just prepare lah:)

Bird House Update

Visited my bird house yesterday. I have not been into the bird house for more than 2 months. The last time I was there, I saw 1 full nest with baby birds, 1 half completed nest and 1 with extension work using the fake nest.

This time, I was happy to see some improvement to the bird house. There were about 5 completed bird nests and 1 half completed bird nest. 2 of the nests with baby birds hanging on them. I noticed that 1 of the bird nest is located at another corner of the bird house far from the other bird nests. I presume that this bird is from a different colony. If it is true, then my bird house has birds from 2 different colonies.

I know the result is still very slow compare with other bird houses but is a good start.

From what I learned, the number of bird nests in a bird house should have a multiplying effect. ie 2, 4, 8, 16, 32,... this is because the baby birds will usually make nest beside the parents nest. Each pair of bird can lay eggs up to 3 times a year and if the baby birds will mate after 6 months. Let us do the math below using 4 months laying eggs cycle and 8 months egg to adulthood cycle, the figure is something like this:

Month 1-4 ~ 1 nest
Month 5-8 ~ 1 nest
Month 9-12 ~ 2 nests
Month 13-16 ~ 3 nests
Month 17-20 ~ 5 nests
Month 21-24 ~ 8 nests
Month 25-28 ~ 13 nests
Month 29-32 ~ 21 nests
Month 33-36 ~ 34 nests
Month 37-40 ~ 55 nests
Month 41-44 ~ 89 nests
Month 45-48 ~ 144 nests
Month 49-52 ~ 233 nests
Month 53-56 ~ 377 nests
Month 57-60 ~ 610 nests

This calculation is for 1 pair of bird that flew into the bird house to start a family with the assumption that no baby birds fly away to stay in other bird houses. What happen if more than 1 pair of bird decided to migrate from other bird house to my bird house, the above figure should be double or triple:).

We must be have patient and make sure the bird house is always in good and comfortable condition so that no bird will want to migrate from the bird house. Not everyone is so lucky to have bird house that have 100s of nests within a year.

So for those that do not have many bird nests, the most important is to be patient but must always make sure that the number of nests is growing hopefully like the figure above else something is not right and action must be taken.

So at the mean time it is waiting again until the next visit

1 year anniversary

Today is the one year anniversary of my bird house. So far only 1 nest but it is a good start. Wasted 9 months without any result with the first consultant. I hope 2010 will be a good year for my bird house.

To new bird house owner, don't get con by your consultant if they keep asking you to wait for the birds to come into the bird house. I listened to my consultant and kept on waiting for 9 months. Based on my experience, if the consultant is good, you should be able to see result within 3 months. If you don't see any result after 3 months, kick the consultant out and replace a new one. I could have saved 6 months of my waiting time.

Mr. Chong told me this morning that the bird nest price has been escalating in the past few months. It is now within RM4.5k to RM5k per kg. Good news for all the bird house owners.

First Nest

Passed by my bird house yesterday, I decided to go into the bird house to take a look even though my appointment with Mr Chong is next month.

Before going into the nesting area, I noticed that my external amplifier was not working. After checking, I found that the plug was loosed. I guessed I might have loosen the plug while installing the cooling fan the last time I was there. O ! no external sound for the past month, I think sure no bird already.

When I went into the nesting area, I saw a bird flying inside. There was not much extra bird shit on the floor. But to my surprise, I saw a bird nest on the timber plank. A full size bird nest!

This proof that even without external sound, the bird which have already visited the bird house will still find its way into the bird house. Without external bird sound I was unable to attract any new bird into the bird house therefore no increase of bird shit on the floor.

Hopefully, when I visit my bird house next month, I will find more nests inside.