Harvested of the swiftlet edible birdnest

edible birdnest

The most heavily harvested nests are from the Edible-nest Swiftlet or White-nest Swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphagus) and the Black-nest Swiftlet (Aerodramus maximus).The white nests and the "red blood" nests are supposedly rich in nutrients, which are traditionally believed to provide health benefits, such as aiding digestion, raising libido, improving the voice, alleviating asthma, improving focus, and an overall benefit to the immune system.
The nests are built during the breeding season by the male swiftlet over a period of 35 days. They take the shape of a shallow cup stuck to the cave wall. The nests are composed of interwoven strands of salivary laminae cement. Both nests have high levels of calcium, iron, potassium, and magnesium
Hong Kong and the United States are the largest importers of these nests. In Hong Kong, a bowl of bird's nest soup would cost $30 USD to $100 USD.A kilogram of white nest can cost up to $2,000 USD, and a kilogram of "red blood" nest can cost up to $10,000 USD. The white nests are commonly treated with a red pigment, but methods have been developed to determine an adulterated nest natural red cave nest are often only found in limestone caves in bird nest concession island in Thailand.
The nests were formerly harvested from caves, principally the enormous limestone caves at Gomantong and Niah in Borneo. With the escalation in demand these sources have been supplanted since the late 1990s by purpose-built nesting houses, usually reinforced concrete structures following the design of the SE Asian shop-house ("ruko"). These nesting houses are normally found in urban areas near the sea, since the birds have a propensity to flock in such places. This has become an extraordinary industry, mainly based on a series of towns in the Indonesian Province of North Sumatra, which have been completely transformed by the activity. From there the nests are mostly exported to Hong Kong, which has become the centre of the world trade, though most of the final consumers are from mainland China. It has been estimated that the products now account for 0.5% of the Indonesian GDP, equivalent to about a quarter of the country's fishing industry.

where swiftlets edible birdnest can be found

swiftlets areas

The history of bird's nest consumption can be traced back to China nearly 1,500 years ago during the Tang Dynasty period (A.D. 618-907). It was believed that bird's nest had been brought back from 'Nan yang' (the southern countries), by sea-faring Chinese sailors, and introduced to the courts of the China's Emperor as a supreme delicacy (food of the Emperor). During that era, only the family of the Emperor and his court officials has the privilege of consuming the highly priced bird’s nest. It was only at the end of the Emperor rule, that the common people were introduced to bird's nest and the value and demand for bird's nest has since continued to climb due to its rarity and nutritional properties

The history of the swiftlet edible bird nest

 Trade of Swiftlet nests began in China during the T'ang
Dynasty (A.D. 618-907).  China is the prime consumer of a soup made
from these nests (bird's nest soup), which is considered the
"caviar of the East" until a policy of austerity under communist
rule discouraged such extravagance.  Recent relaxation of controls
in the PRC has led to a surge in demand for Bird's Nest Soup.
China is importing enormous amounts of ingredients for the soup
from countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia.  This is now
threatening the swift populations and has led CITES to consider
adding the bird and its nest to its lists of endangered species.

2.        Description

     Chinese have been eating the nest of the Swiftlet, a bird
about the size of a sparrow found in Southeast Asia and the Indian
Subcontinent, for over 1,000 years.  The Edible-nest, Indian
Edible-nest and Black-nest Swiftlets weave a nest from strands of
saliva: the male regurgitates a long, thin gelatinous strand from
salivary glands under its tongue which is then wound into a half-
cup nest which bonds like quick-drying cement to the inside of a
cave wall.  Swiftlet nests are (usually) carefully removed from
the cave wall.  The nests are relatively tasteless and so are
usually served in soup or jelly, mixed with chicken, spices, sauce
or sweets.  For centuries in China these nests have been considered
nourishing and tasty as well as a booster of health for the sick
and aging; they are even believed to be an aphrodisiac.

     The harvesting of Swiftlet nests is a potentially hazardous
occupation.  They are collected from high, dark caves by special
collectors who climb up and balance on bamboo poles attached to
steep cliffs.  These cliffs reach hundreds of feet in height.  This
is a traditional occupation and the skill of nest collection is
generally passed down from father to son.

     Biochemist Kong Yun-Cheng at the Chinese University of Hong
Kong conducted a chemical analysis of the soup which revealed that
there is a water-soluble glyco-protein in the nest which promotes
cell division within the immune system.  However, it is destroyed
during the cleaning process.  Therefore, the soup is actually of
low nutritive value.

bird nest soup

The brief introduction of swiftlet

swiftlet

Swiftlets are birds contained within the four genera Aerodramus, Hydrochous, Schoutedenapus and Collocalia. They form the Collocaliini tribe within the swift family Apodidae. The group contains around thirty species mostly confined to southern Asia, south Pacific islands, and northeastern Australia, all within the tropical and subtropical regions. They are in many respects typical members of the Apodidae, having narrow wings for fast flight, with a wide gape and small reduced beak surrounded by bristles for catching insects in flight. What distinguishes many but not all species from other swifts and indeed almost all other birds^[1] is their ability to use a simple but effective form of echolocation to navigate in total darkness through the chasms and shafts of the caves where they roost at night and breed. The nests of some species are built entirely from threads of their saliva, and are collected for the famous Chinese delicacy bird's nest soup.