The Breeding Biology of Swiftlets

By
Dr. Laurentius N. Ambu, PhD Fcam
Director
Sabah Wildlife Department
 Table Of Contents

1. Annual Breeding Cycle

2. Nest Building
3. Egg Laying and Incubation
4. Brooding and Fledging
5. Roosting Behaviour
6. Recruitment
 1.Annual Breeding Cycle
Nesting records of the two echolocating species show a similar pattern,
with minimal activity in June to August, and a subsequent multi brooded
cycle peaking around February to April.
It has long been recognized that birds have short breeding seasons at higher
latitudes and longer ones at the low latitudes of the tropics. The less
markedly seasonal tropical climate permits a longer breeding season than in
temperate zone, so that a nesting period of six to ten months-or even
throughout the year-is not uncommon. In conformity with this
generalization, the annual breeding season of Bornean swiftlets is a
protracted event lasting at least nine months, with more than one bout of
breeding activity (see next slide).
These swiftlets employ a multi brooded reproductive strategy.
To maximize their annual breeding success, as the cumulative outcome of
several breeding attempts, swiftlets will lay eggs as soon as environmental
factors and intrinsic conditions permit, and continue in succession whilst
favorable provisions persist.
 1.Annual Breeding Cycle..continuation

White-nest Swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphagus)

93.8% breeding 59.7% breeding 96.1% breeding

Average egg produced/pair = 1.49 Average egg produce/pair = 0.77 Average egg produced/pair = 1.88
Average nestling raised/pair = 0.97 Average nestling raised/pair = 0.44 Average nestling raised/pair = 1.32
Replacement egg = -N/A Replacement egg = 108 14 days Replacement egg = 47 10 days

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Replacement egg = 17 3 days Replacement egg = 82 20 days Replacement egg = 19 6 days

Average nestling raised/pair = 0.68 Average nestling raised/pair = 0.57 Average nestling raised/pair =0.79
Average egg produced/pair = 1.22 Average egg produced/pair = 0.95 Average egg produced/pair = 1.35
91.6% breeding 77.8% breeding 91.6% breeding

Black-nest Swiftlet (Aerodramus maximus)

Second Breeding Bout Third Breeding Bout First Breeding Bout

(Halfway of breeding season) (Period of intense moult) (Start of annual breeding season)
 2.Nest Building
Most or all Bornean swiftlets are resident in colonies throughout the year, even during
the non-breeding season. Nest-building and raising young occupy a high proportion of the
year. Because both sexes have such a major, sustained involvement in the nest, they
are likely to form strong pair bonds.

The nests of Collocalia spp. consists of grasses or pieces of plants smeared with about
15% saliva while those of Aerodramus spp. consists almost completely of saliva but
sometimes there are few feathers stuck on them. The swiftlets Collocalia spp. take a
longer time to build their nests since they should look for nest materials piece by piece
and arrange them into nests. They take about 60 70 days to complete their nests,
depending on the season (dry or rainy seasons). The swiftlets Aerodramus spp. take about
30 50 days to complete their nests, but this also depends on the season. In rainy season,
they complete their nests more quickly because there are high supplies of insects for
them to feed and thus they can produce much more saliva.
 2.Nest Buildingcontinuation
Nests building usually starts several weeks before the birds are ready to lay eggs, though
some preliminary building occurs much earlier if the nests are collected at the end of the
previous season. The species differ considerably in the way they build their nests, but all use at
least some nest cement or sticky saliva. Their sublingual salivary glands enlarge when they
are building nests and produce gelatinous, sticky saliva which solidifies when it dries
(Medway, 1962c). This saliva emerges from the side of the mouth in a thin strand which the bird
lays across the nest. The strands are patted into place using the bill.

For the white nest swiftlet, it takes 30 days on average from the first deposition of nest cement
at the start of the breeding season until the nest reaches a sufficient size to hold the eggs (Kang
and Lee, 1991; Lim, 1999). From this point, another 7 10 days may be needed before the first
egg is laid. If a nest is removed before the lay, the birds immediately begin rebuilding a
replacement nest on the same spot. If it is taken when eggs or young are present, there is a delay
of 10 14 days before fresh saliva is deposited again. Some replacement nests may not be used
at all for a further breeding attempt, particularly following harvest late in the annual breeding
season (e.g., in May or June).
 2.Nest Buildingcontinuation

Among all swiftlets, both sexes participate in the nest building. This normally takes
place at night when the birds are at roost.
A nest begins as layers of haphazardly deposited hinge. Subsequently, a low
crescentic mound is built up, to form the basal attachment. The building Process
involves chewing and retching movements, during which the saliva is extruded
from the open bill, and added to the nest.
Freshly secreted salivary nest-cement is soft and sticky but it gradually dries and
hardens when exposed to air.
Layers upon layers of thin salivary laminae are added everyday onto the base,
which is extended as the rim of a progressively enlarging, small half-cup shaped
nest. The final shape of the nest reflects features such as the presence of a
supporting rocky protrusion, the angle of slope of the supporting cave wall, or the
proximity of other nests (which may merge into one another).
 2.Nest Buildingcontinuation

The weight of a dry nest ranges from 8 to 9 grams, about one tenth of the swiftlets
body weight. Chemical analyses of the house white nests revealed that the
composition of the nests is as follows (Mulyani et al., 1996):

Carbohydrate 17.0 %
Fat 0.07 %
Crude fibre 0.30 %
Protin 52.0 %
Ash 12.0 %
Water 1.9 %
 2.Nest Buildingcontinuation
TEST DOMESTIC (HOUSE) CAVE BIRD-NEST
BIRD-NEST
Protein % (g/100g) 56.6 58.4
Sodium mg/g 10.3 0.4
Calcium mg/g 6.3 26.4
Potassium ppm (mg/kg) 66.0 221.0
Magnesium ppm (mg/kg) Less than 0.1 743.0
Zinc ppm (mg/Kg) 2.8 8.8
Iron ppm (mg/kg) 7.8 105.0
Phosphorous ppm (mg/kg) 32.0 195.0
Manganese ppm (mg/kg) 0.5 8.1
Selenium ppm (mg/kg) 0.9 1.4

Lab Test Comparing Cave and Made-made House Nests

(TUV SUD PSB Pte. Ltd. Laboratory Singapore, Jan 2009)
Processed Birds Nests
 3. Egg Laying and Incubation

Most species of swiftlets lay two eggs in a clutch, but the Black-nest swiftlet
lays only one. In species which usually lay two eggs, some nests have only
one egg. This could result if two eggs were laid, but one was subsequently lost.
If less food was available at that time, the birds energy reserves may have
been low to produce a second egg.

For two-egg species, the eggs are usually laid about three days apart.
Incubation usually starts soon after the first egg is laid, resulting in a
difference of two to three days in the hatching date for the two eggs. The
incubation period of swiftlets is exceptionally long considering the small size
of the eggs. Published data on the mean incubation period for each of the 4
species are as follows:
3. Egg Laying and Incubation
continuation
Incubation

Species period (days) Reference

Black-nest 28 Medway, 1962a

White-nest 23 Langham, 1980
Mossy-nest 23 Medway, 1962a
White-bellied 21.5 Medway, 1962a
White-bellied 23.5 Hails & Turner, 1985

Generally, the breeding biology of most swiftlets is as follows:

Nest building 30 - 80 days

Interval from copulation to egg laying 5-8 days
Incubation period 23 (+3 ) days
Interval from hatching to fledging 43 (-3) days
Interval from hatching to sexual maturation 240 - 300 days

NOTE: The average longevity for swiftlets is estimated to be 14 years (varies from 10 to 20 years).
 4.BROODING AND FLEDGING
The fledging period for three species of edible nest swiftlets are listed below:-

Morphometric data of three species of edible nests swiftlets of Borneo

Species Adult Egg Clutch Incubation Fledging

Weight size (no) (days) (days)
(g) (mm)
Average Range Average Range

Black-nest Swiftlet 14 - 21 25 x 16 1 24 21 - 27 46
42 - 53

White-nest Swiftlet 10 - 15 20 x 14 2 25 19 - 32 45
37 - 54

White-bellied Swiftlet 7-8 17 x 11 2 22 19 - 23 42

37 - 43

Source: Adapted from Koon and Cranbrook, 2000.

 5.ROOSTING BEHAVIOR
Swiftlets are found in pairs at the nest site, which serves as
their night time roosting place at all times of the year. Each
pair normally clings side by side on the uneven surface of the
cave wall. When a nest is present, both sometimes cram inside
it, with heads and bodies pressed intimately together.
Sometimes, the other may squat by the edge of the nest, or
cling on the rock surface adjacent to the nest. Studies in
Sarawak suggested that that each pair is established in a
permanent roosting site. Even when their nest was removed,
the same swiftlets returned the same evening to the exact site,
suggesting that swiftlets have strong instinct towards nest site
fidelity, and are perhaps permanently paired.
Swiftlets are found in pairs at the nest site either clinging side by side or pressed
together inside the nest.
The newly hatched swiftlet is featherless,
pink in color and its eyes are closed
The hatchlings at porcupine stage,
about 11 20 days old.
The nest is barely large enough to accommodate
two nestlings of the white-nest swiftlet.
 6. Recruitment Success
The recruitment success of the Aerodramus fuciphagus species
is as follows:-

No. of eggs 2 Kang et al.(1991)

Re-nesting Success (R) 41% Kang et al. (1991)
Hatching Success (H) 65% Langham (1980)
Fledging Success (F) 53.9% Langham (1980)

Overall Recruitment Success is = 14.4%

(R/100 x H/100 x F/100 x 100)
Thank You!