swiftlet farming in malaysia

when we visited the mango farm just outside sungei rengit, we were assailed by loud bird noises, which i thought was coming from the roof of the house. over the roof, they had a black netting which i assumed was to block out the sunlight. there was also a new brick building next to the residence which did not seem to have a roof. when i made enquiry, the owner told me that it was a bird house.

my friend victor pointed out to me the tweeters from which the sound was being emitted. it was placed under the roof of the house. i suppose the sound was to attract the birds into the house. i could see some swifts flying around the area.

the brick building behind the house had lines of holes, evenly spaced out, at different levels. at first, i thought they were openings for the swifts to enter and leave the building. on closer examination, i found that these holes were actually covered with some wire mesh. i think they were more for ventilation. i found out later that the birds enter through an entrance on the roof top.

seems to me that swift farming is quite a lucrative business because it would have cost the mango farmer tens of thousand of ringgit to get people to construct the four-storey building. we also noticed that the other mango farm had a similar building. i have also seen bird houses for swifts when i visited other towns in west malaysia. some of these bird houses were right in the middle of the town.

so, instead of building their nests in caves or on cracks of granite cliffs, the farmers create an environment conducive for the swifts to build their nests and to lay the eggs. the nests are constructed with glutinuous strands of starch-like saliva of the birds. to make the place conducive, the farmer has to look into the temperature, the humidity and the darkness of the place.

bird's nest soup is an expensive delicacy, sought after by asians, especially the chinese.