Visitors to Go Cong in the southern province of Tien Giang can see 3-4 storey buildings with similar facades except that the backs are made of sheets of unpainted bamboo with small round or square holes for ventilation.
Local people say that every afternoon, stocks of swifts gather there, especially in bad weather to build nests.
Many households in Tien Giang, Kien Giang and Ca Mau have done well for a living by helping the birds nest in their houses.
The coastal area of Go Cong in Tien Giang that has a lot of insects and invertebrates is ideal for swifts. They are small like sparrows but very strong and can fly for a long time. They live in pairs and give birth three times a year with two eggs each time. The birds do not perch on the branches of trees, but use their short, small feet to hang themselves on high cliffs or on wall of the houses.
In Go Cong, there is a five storey building, 4 of which are used for tens of thousands of swifts. The house belongs to Tran Van Thiet (Muoi Thiet). Thiet said that 20 years ago, a flock of swifts gathered in one storey to nest but this he did not notice at the time. Only later did he realise the value of their nests so he started to renovate his house to suit the birds. Now, the number of swifts has increase dramatically.
“White gold”
These days, there are two methods of producing birds’ nests by either feeding the birds naturally like Muoi Thiet does or using sound to attract the birds to their houses. The second requires the houses to be built in a specifically designed way so the owners of the houses can make the right sounds to lure in flocks of birds.
Nguyen Van Mien. Who produces birds’ nests said that the interiors of these houses must be carefully built, so the music to attract the birds with the sounds from the many tiny speakers hidden near the bird’s nests. Square, wooden boxes are hung close to the ceiling for the birds to nest.
To enable them to build their nests, it is necessary to create an artificial nest which is exactly the same as a real one. Normally, a person will build a 3 storey house and then leave it unused for about two years. It is considered a success if 50-60 pairs of swifts settle in there.
Thanh, who played a CD to attract the birds, said that once a mature bird hears the CD, it will leave the flock. It will fly around the area for a while before deciding to live there. Many people now know how to attract the birds into their houses. They can even distinguish the sounds the swifts make and understand what they need.
According to them, the key to success is to make sure there is an open, clear and quite place for swifts to live with no human beings around except some to clean or take care of the chicks. The materials used for the birds’ nests must be soft and have no unusual smells.
Muoi Thiet said that companies in Khanh Hoa province highly value the quality of the nests made in Go Cong, saying this is providing a real boon for local people who are careful and skilful in practice to avoid taking the nests when there are still young birds in them.
A kilogram of bird’s nest in Go Cong is now sold at around VND32 million. It can reach VND42 million if carefully processed. The bird’s nest in Khanh Hoa can even be traded at VND60 million a kilogram. Therefore, the nests are considered to be “white gold” by many households involved in bird’s nests production.
Development policy planning
Encouraging bird’s nest production in household economy has actively contributed to protecting rare species and the environment as well as increasing export earnings. This is a typical kind of sustainable agricultural development that needs special attention. However, many provinces lack long-term plans for this kind of business to develop.
They need to help local people to acquire technical know how for his kind of job. They also need to draw up plans to transfer the technique to those people who want to improve their incomes and help them access loans from the government’s stimulus package.
Source: VOV