DR Cranbrook swiftlet biologist

“They had come from the north by the hundreds and thousands and would make a mess on people’s cars. In those days, there were no swiftlet houses in Bentong, but it’s a new situation now where we have swiftlets feeding in the sky. So it begs the question of whether swiftlets are competing with swallows for food.

“We are talking about an ancient migration system whereby swallows come down from China, Japan and Korea to winter in Malaysia. But if the food resources of these wintering swallows are being taken in excess by swiftlets, what is the ecological impact? This is why I’m very pleased to have funds available for a re-investigation into Bentong.”

Swiftlets in a shophouse on Jalan Mesjid Kapitan Keling, Penang. Wild swiftlets once inhabit dark caves but these days, semi-domesticated ones are reared in manmade caves for their nests. - Filepic

He also intends to use the grant for research into the cave swiftlets of Sabah. In 1983, Charles M. Francis had surveyed all birds’ nest caves in the state. Cranbrook reckons 30 years is long enough for an update.