Dear West Wing,

I am currently just started my own BH in Sabah. I have a few questions in mind which I have been trying to know, but b4 i go into the questions, let me summarize details of my birdhouse.

Location: next to the beach, there are a few successful birdhouse located near the area.
Specification: 3 storey 30' x 75'
Design: open roof, internal fully partitioned.

B4 the bird house was built, we've conducted quite a number of bird call test during peak hours around 5:45pm ~ 6:00pm (sun set earlier in sabah as compared to peninsula). First bird test that we did was able to attract 50+ birds. Ever since we started operating the bird house, we notice gain in the number of birds in the area. Bird call test now in the same place would attract more than 100 birds now.

The bird house was built from scratch and it has been in operation for 6 months now.

We entered the bird house at 4th month, spotted alot of bird shits on floor and one incomplete bird nest on the tweeter. During this visit, we notice that most of the external tweeter has stop functioning and only one is still working. Upon inspection, we notice that all the external tweeter wiring has corroded over time (estimated 2 mths without sound). Most of the wiring has been replaced the nxt day.

My question are:
1) For a bird house like i described above, how many birds it should have by 6 mths time. Specifically, the number of birds staying in the house.
Upon my counting on several days, there are 28 birds staying in the bird house. Is the bh doing good? bad? ok?
2) How many birds should a bird house like this have after one year of operation for it to consider not fail for first year.
3) How many bird nests should the bird house like the above have for it to consider successful?
4) Is it appropriate to use the Bird Call gadget (Duress) next to a new bird house while the external sound of the bird house is still running? Reason i ask was that i have been using it for sometimes, like once a month or twice a month thinking that it will attract more birds here and letting the birds know that theres a new place to stay here.

I hope you could enlight me for the above questions as i have been looking around the web for answers. I understand that most of these question are not 1 + 1 = 2 as it very much depends on the location and other matters. Thats y i tried my best to give the full details of the location and the bird house.

I am new here, apologize in advance should the above post sounds offending to any1 if any.

Here is a link to a bird call test conducted at the bird house recently.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vqBCn1tJ4c...nel_video_title

This post has been edited by oneup: May 26 2011, 04:30 PM

Dear West Wing,

Thank you v much for the reply. Yes it is next to the sea.

I will conduct another inspection on the 1 year anniversary and hopefully it will have some improvement. For the time being, its best i think to leave the birds in peace, so I can only rely on the CCTVs installed. Will update on it if any1 is interested on the progress.

You mentioned that we should use some good sounds to attract more birds to the BH and never use Duress anymore. I have only a few external sounds in hand of which most were purchased from Pak Harry.

Can I use BlackCloud during the peak hours? The reason i ask was because i heard ppl say that BlackCloud contain sounds from Duress. If it is not good to play Duress during peak hours, and BlackCloud contain sound from Duress, then it must b a bad idea to play BlackCloud?

Below are the external sound that I have which are NOT being played during 6am ~ 6:45pm:
1) BlackCloud
2) Tongkat Ali

I am thinking to pick one to play during peak hours for 20mins to attract more birds. Any suggestion?

Also I am currently considering to buy Professor Dr. Christopher Lim's Audio CD... Any one has tried the CD? Is it a good buy?


What do you mean when u said human greed?

PS: The thread started from v1 till now. Sound v discouraging in v3... Scare alot of new comers...

This post has been edited by oneup: May 26 2011, 10:06 PM

haha very nice points indeed. I like you already.

Heard that alot of BH owners are practicing force harvest, saying that it will boost population by atleast 25%. However this method is only effective after the BH is populated to a certain level. True or not, i am not sure, but it does give raise to the issue of ethic and animal abuse.

PS: The going price of Raw BN in Sabah is also abt RM4,500.00 not sure what grade is it tho.

I think I saw some posts b4 regarding the grading in v1 or v2... Not 100% sure because I skim thru most part of it.

This post has been edited by oneup: May 28 2011, 01:04 PM

lainux,

From your post, I think it was safe to say that you didn't do enough research on the business. Like most of the seniors here would say, most information about the business are already all over the internet. You have to use your own observation and intel to filter those that work for you best. Without in depth research, you are bound to hit the nail.

Most basic requirement for someone to be successful in this business is to b interested and keep digging information while observing yourself. Reason being that there are too many information available for you to choose from.

For Example.
Difference in location, method on starting can vary alot.
Difference in location can mean
- Different sunset time
- Different food location thus diff flight path
- Wind speed
and so on...

Also, beware of conmen in the industry...

Gravity,

Going to seminar could b very useful, but information provided are only entry level. I would say information provided in V1, V2, V3 of this thread way surpasses what can the seminars offer. Just take your time, and read everything.

lainux,

Exactly, like what you say, the information are available in bits and pieces and some are even contradicting, which confuses ppl... That is y it is important for you to pick up pieces of information that is relevant to you. My first impression of ppl in the industry is "secretive". To those ppl who are sharing their information to me, I felt that they are not telling me all, however overtime I notice that it is not that ppl are not sharing. But the fact that things that work for A might not work for B. However you could still learn from what they say.

But to truly learn is to have an actual BH for you to observe. After awhile, you will notice alot of things. Like timing of birds visiting, returning. How to differentiate between visitors and residents.

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Added on June 2, 2011, 3:27 pmI agree with most of the things said here, the saying that swiftlet are afraid of brightness is wrong... They do not fear the light as i've seen swiftlet build their nest at total bright places and I notice that swiftlet at my BH are not bothered by the light that switched on at the entrance of the BH as they still zoom in and out freely. From what I read of the internet, they rely on echo of their clicks interpulse periods to navigate in total darkness.

I also heard from alot of Sifus that swiftlet have very good smelling sense.

One thing tho, my BH planks are made of cement, so I don't see birds hit hard on it YET. But I can't confirm as yet because my BH is fairy new. Mayb the birds in the city are more used to wooden planks rather than cement.

This post has been edited by oneup: Jun 2 2011, 03:27 PM

Most BHs use wooden planks. The reason we opt for cement was because one of the successful BH are using cement planks too and we assume that cement planks last longer. But if we're given the chance to choose again, we would surely go for wooden ones.

Wooden planks and cement planks cost you almost the same. Theres pros and cons in both planks.

Cement planks last longer, you do not have to worry abt it getting eaten by termites or such. You also do not have to worry abt 90 deg nests as you can easily curve all those with cements. However, cement planks takes longer and more preparation to complete and not all workers know how to properly make them. Then you have to worry about the cement smell and application of aroma or sorts are much more harder.

Wooden planks are all over the places, they are easily available, workers find it very easy to work with, speakers are easy to install. You can easily apply aroma and install accessories just with an air nail gun. Theres definitely more pros than cons as compared with cement planks.

Agree, and the first nest in my BH wasn't on the planks but a tweeter.... Haha... Whats done is done, so just making the best out of it now.

Its an industry that requires alot of patience, determination and will.
Constant observation and research towards the field. U just have to hear what ppl say, take that information and observe for yourself which to believe and use.

I am lucky enough to have some1 close to teach me abt the details. And also many thanks to the ppl on the web who care to share.

Thru personal experience, you really hav to b patient abt the decision or changes made to your bh. Do not expect change overnight and then start blaming ppl who shared with you. Most of the time, good takes time. And if you see effect overnight, like the sudden boost using the duress sound, most likely you got conned into believing the sudden boost.

I didn't mean you are blaming ppl.

But from what you said... Theres a few things that I would like to share, but bare in mind that this is what I've learnt and its purely my personal opinion which might be wrong.

1) If you're using the same sound that another bh is using near your bh, then most probably the birds in that area are familiar with the sound already. Logically your bh and the other are having the same external sound and they like it. But if the other bh is better managed in terms of temperature, humidity and etc, then the birds are most likely to not migrate to your bh. Not to mention the fact that only newly fledged birds will consider staying at your bh. Old birds will not move at all. Also don't forget that their father and mother and grandfather and grandmother are at the other hse.

2) When ppl talk abt patience. Its not 1 or 2 months. As far as I know, when you launch your bh, you should not enter your bh until it hits 3 mths old to check out the condition within. And when you enter, you should pick hours when the birds are out. Like 9am ~9:30am. This time may differ is you're staying in other areas, peninsular and east coast hav diff sun rise and sun set time. So how do you know what time to enter? Observe your bh long enough and you will know what time they're out and what time they return. Depending on the time of the year, if you know birds are staying within your bh. Don't simply change the sound too often. Changing sound several times within 2.5 month is abit too often in my opinion. But i heard some ppl change every 2 weeks, some every 3 mths and some never change at all. But it all works.... So god know what is the right method... But for me... If the bird likes the sound, i keep it. If the birds are in mating season, I refrain from sound changing...

Back to the topic of patience. After my first entry at 3rd mth, I made a few more right after to rectify some problems. Then shut the door for another 6 mths because its their mating season.

Again, thats from my personal opinion... Might not be right.

This post has been edited by oneup: Jun 17 2011, 10:53 PM

When you first turned on the sound at your bh, i believe it attracted quite a number of birds too. But it runs out of omph after awhile? That is normal for all sounds, u play it too long, the birds lose interest.

When u take the sound to another spot with no bird house and turn on the sound, it is bound to attract the birds' attraction provided that is a good sound. But 1.5KM is just nxt door... That one i don't understand why... Perhaps something near your bh is scaring the birds... Not sure...

Just my 2 cents. Not in anyway a professional advise.

Entrance hole should b facing east. If the BHs in your area are all facing one specific direction other than east, i suggest you follow them since it is most likely the verdict they all agreed upon.

Partition is ok, do not need to remove them, as i notice the birds dropping are mostly within the partitioned area anyways.

Patience is the key. Wait and see, don't goes into the bh too often or u end up scaring them away. Wait for a few mths atleast for them to settle. Not to mention the fact that major mating season is here.

Then again, my experience is limited. Seems like most sifus here disagree with the partitions and if you ask me if i am very sure abt what i said?
My answer is no. I am still learning. In the industry for only abt a year.

This post has been edited by oneup: Jun 25 2011, 11:03 AM

Trading with euyansang is not easy. They squeeze u to the max. That's what I heard.

Most of the ppl have their own customers... Some sell raw, some sell processed...
Ofc the best is to export but licenses required are a pain in the ass. So far, only 2 person i knew had export license. Others only have license between east n west malaysia.

One of the bh owner here are exporting without license. How did he do it? He bring in small portions like 2kgs per travel. He has business in China, so he travels quite often by himself or his employees, which helps. Unless u have business in that country that require you to travel often, this method doesn't work for you. It is not a viable way in the long run anyways.

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Added on June 27, 2011, 12:00 pmThat is true. It has cause a price drop in EBN. This is mainly due to some players in the industry who wants fast money. Too much chemical used in cleaning process or using other substance to increase their revenue.

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Added on June 27, 2011, 2:36 pmAny1 here experienced with Gecko, Lizard, Cicak in birdhouse?

Today, I saw a HUGE lizard in my bird house. Any1 know any good way to get rid of it other than using spray? Any1 with first hand experience dealing with them?

Its SO BIG!!! 6" in length! Haha

I am not so worried abt them eating the nests... But ma precious eggs!
I know they eat the bird nests, how abt eggs? What species eat eggs? what doesn't?

This post has been edited by oneup: Jun 27 2011, 02:39 PM

I am just talking with no source here... So don't blame me if its not the correct info haha...
I am guessing that it is the same reason y only bumi get to harvest the cave nests...

Dear Sifus,

It's finally time for the moment i've been waiting for! First! Yes! First Harvest!

I've been asking around abt harvesting alot. The most confusing now for me is whether to
1) turn on the BH lights for harvesting? or
2) use a torch light?

Many BH owners say use a torch light, but some of my friends say turn on the light within the bh....

Would appreciate if sifus here can shed some light on the matter.

Thanks!

Thanks! Indeed my first concern would b safety of the harvester! And my observation did tell me that light is not really so big of an issue to the birds. It is humans that they r scared of.
I will turn in the lights then for harvesting. =)

All operators and exporters of EBN has to register at http:fosimdomestic.moh.gov.my on the news today.
Does that includes bh owners? Some say yes some say no. Any1 can confirm abt this?

That means bh owners too?

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Added on September 11, 2011, 11:34 pmIf bh owners too, there pose a huge problem...
They haven't even solve the issue of bh in city area...
If ppl have bh in city, who would register? It not legal anyways...

This post has been edited by oneup: Sep 11 2011, 11:34 PM

Some1 told me that their BH is yielding 8kg per month.
And their BH is merely 3 years old.
Is is even possible? Can some1 shed some light?