Ranging behaviour of edible nest swiftlet (Aerodramus sp.) in Kuala Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia

The edible bird’s nest has been consumed by humans for centuries for its medicinal properties and health benefits. Traditionally, the dried gelatinous coating of the edible-nest swiftlet is boiled together with rock sugar and eaten as a delicacy. However, today, the edible bird’s nest has also been commercialised into health and cosmetic products. Despite the importance of the product, many questions remain within the nest builder, the edible-nest swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphagus) specifically regarding their ecology and behaviour in nature. The ranging behaviour of the Aerodramus sp., and its foraging areas were studied in the Kuala Langat district. The swiftlets were successfully tagged and tracked using vehicles. The research was conducted from March 2013 to July 2013. It was found that swiftlets had an average core area of 1687.06 ha (16.87 km²), a home range size of 6437.47 ha (64.37 km²) and an average flying distance from their birdhouses which ranged from 2 to 6 km. They were mostly found roaming in open fields, young oil palm plantations and nearby forested areas. Pearson correlation analysis showed that 50% of core feeding range areas and 95% of feeding range areas of the swiftlets correlated negatively with wind velocity (mph) at r = 0.8057, P = 0.0287 and r = 0.820, P = 0.024, respectively. The average flying speed of the swiftlets correlated positively with wind velocity and the correlation was significant (r = 0.8423, P < 0.05)

Diversity of the insects in the diet of edible nest swiftlets in oil palm plantations

The Edible Nest Swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphagus) is a small bird from the family Apodidae which is commonly found in the South-East Asian region which characteristically roost and nest in cave or cavern-like situation. Swiftlet farming in specially designed building has recently developed due to high consumer demand for the edible bird nest. The farms are not the natural habitat of the swiflets and there are greater chance that this will affect in one way or the other way of their dietary habit and composition. The focus of this study was to investigate the diversity of insects found in the diet of A. fuciphagus in their habitats in oil palm-growing areas in Malaysia. This was achieved by investigating the relationship between insect composition in oil palm and insect prey composition in the feeding bolus of A. fuciphagus. The most common insects order found in the sampled fields of the three states in the study was Diptera (26.53%) and followed closely by Hymenoptera (21.26%). The difference between the sample sites as far as insects order composition is not significantly different (t test = 3.759 and 2.9). We failed to accept the H0 that the diversity of insect in the fields and diet of the swiftlets in all locations was the same

Soft release of barn owl from nestlings for the purpose of rat control

Barn owl (Tyto javanica) is common throughout the oil palm plantations in Peninsular Malaysia. It’s significant role in providing biological control of rodent pest is well established. However, in Sabah and Sarawak, local population of the owl is not particularly known. Therefore, several translocation programs have been implemented to establish sustainable barn owl populations in Borneo; with certain degree of success. Past experience has shown that introducing adult owls from their original residence in Peninsular Malaysia to Sabah and Sarawak were largely unsuccessful or would take longer time to become established in their new homes. In this introduction program a soft release approach was implemented for acclimatization purposes to ensure a promising success of introducing Barn owls in a plantation. In this study, three pairs of owlets of 17 days to 35 days old, were retrieved from their respective nest boxes in the field. The six owlets were secured from Felda Sahabat Lahad Datu, Sabah were translocated to Wilmar’s Sapi Plantations in Telupid, Sabah where an aviary with newly furnished facilities are provided. The owlets were harvested from an established population in Lahad Datu, which originally brought in from the Peninsular Malaysia. The aviary is equipped with three feeding arenas (with individual nest boxes installed) and one holding area for handfeeding and treatment purposes. The six owlets are closely monitored and raised for six months where food intake, body weight and body measurements were recorded. The owlets were manually fed with rats supplied from the plantation twice a day, in small quantities and gradually increased in accordance with their growth in size. After six months of rearing, two Barn owls of 6.5 and 6.7 months old respectively were chosen for release based on their opposite sex and different parental originfor greater breeding fitness. Transmitters were attached on the body of the candidates for radio tracking and mapping of foraging area. The owls were released after being latched inside a nest box 100m from the aviary for 48 hours for acclimatization. Theowls were radio tracked and radio fixes plotted to analyze the home range and exploratory behavior. The rearing of the first batch of the six owlets from nestlings was a success with zero fatality. This indeed contributed substantially to a successful step towards the establishment of the local barn owl nucleus population. Subsequent transfer of owlets has been planned and the second batch is now being fed and raised in the aviary for the next release

Pest Rodents’ Responses to Rice Farming in Northern Peninsular Malaysia

Pest rodents significantly reduce crop yields globally each year, necessitating an efficient rodent management program. In small rice-producing nations like Malaysia, these rodents might lead to food insecurity, thus a science-based pest rodent management strategy is crucial. We attempted to identify the key habitat structure that affects rodent pest populations by investigating the relationships of rodent pest populations with farming practices, site-level habitat, and landscape characteristics. We found that rodent abundance in the rice fields was positively correlated with bund height and width. In addition, rice growing stages and planting seasons affected rodent abundance. However, rodent abundance was negatively related to the distance from active burrows to residential areas. As an alternative to chemical control, we suggest that trapping exercises with a covered trap should be conducted around active burrows located nearby residential areas, with high and wide bunds during early rice planting stages in the dry rice planting season