First 3 months 首三个月

A new BH with proper condition and design, young swiftlets will normally take 3~5months to adapt their new home before they decide to settle down in their new house. When will those swiftlets start to stay in? This question I often asked by newbie, actually the answer is very wide range, assuming the BH is well in all criteria, the 1st tenant could be staying in within 1st day or 1st month, but normally a new proper made BH should have new tenants within 1~2weeks in most common cases, but number of tenants will depend on the location and techniques. Nevertheless I observed that even though new tenants are staying in your new BH, they may not come home every night, and they may not stay at the same spot as well, as they would explore their new home and find out the best spot for nesting, that’s why some time we see bird dripping spots are moving here and there in new BH until they build their 1st nest.

The fist 3months is critical, that is the reason some consultants do not allow their client to enter new BH for the first 3 months, and some even hold the key of iron door for 3months. I personally do not advise such a practice but suggest to make the owner understand of it, minimize the number of entering if unnecessary perhaps once a month for basic inspection and maintenance.

These are some photos taken at one of my JV BHs at north after 3.5months operation.

一个拥有适当条件和正确设计新的燕屋，一般年轻的燕子需要3〜5个月来适应它们的新家，才决定在他们的新房子定居下来。但这些燕子通常多久才开始住进新的燕屋呢？这个问题我经常都会被问的，其实答案是有很宽的范围，假设新燕屋的所有条件都正确，它的第一住客可以是在1天之内或1个月时间，但通常一个拥有正确条件的新燕屋吸引燕子在1〜2周中住进是最常见的情况，但燕子住客的数目将取决于燕屋位置和你的技术。不过我观察到，即使新燕子住客住在新的燕屋，他们可能不会每天晚上都回家，他们也可能不会每晚在同一个点，因为他们会逐渐探索他们的新家，并找出筑窝的最佳地点，这就是为什么有些时候，我们看到新的燕屋的新鸟粪点会改动，直到他们建立第一窝。

首3个月对新的燕屋是很关键的，一些燕屋顾问不允许他们的客户在首3个月内进入燕屋，有的甚至在三个月后才移交铁门钥匙给燕屋主。我个人不太建议这种做法，但应该使业主了解其原因，尽量减少不必要的打扰，如果没额外的必要每月只需安排一次进入燕屋定期检查和维修。

一间在北部合资的新燕屋，开声三个月半后拍摄的照片