SWIFTLETS: Spare a thought for the birds

NST
2009/09/03

M.GANESHADEVA, Kuala Lumpur

IT is rather sad that in the frenzied rush to make a fortune from swiftlet nests, the welfare and well-being of the birds are often neglected ("Fortune nest" -- NST, Aug 23).

It is not wrong to collect the nests after the eggs have been hatched (after nesting for about five weeks) and the young swiftlets have been raised to maturity after a fledgling period of about three months. By then, the birds no longer need the nest.

Some swiftlet rearers, however, do not have the patience to wait that long and take the nests when the young swiftlets are not mature enough to fly or before the eggs are hatched, or even before the eggs are laid.

The birds should be allowed to live as natural a life as possible. It is cruel to take away the nest while the eggs or the young swiftlets are still in the nest because it causes undue anxiety and stress to the parents. Taking away the eggs and artificially hatching and feeding the young swiftlets is unnatural and cruel from an animal welfare standpoint.


The birds are unlike commercially reared broiler chicken, where the broodiness and mothering instincts have been eliminated through centuries of selective breeding. These are free-living wild birds with strong brooding and mothering instincts.

The male and female swiftlets, after mating, are paired for life (unless one of the pair dies earlier). Both help in building the nest and feeding the young swiftlets with insects. They are able to locate their individual nest in dark caves among thousands of other nests by using sonar.

More importantly, they are capable of feeling stress and anxiety when agitated. It is an offence under the Animal Protection Act 1960 to cause unnecessary pain or distress to an animal or bird.

Take the nest by all means after the birds have used and vacated the nests, but let them live as natural a life as possible as they would in the wild as a gratitude for the riches they bestow on you.