About Swiftlets

Swift, is a kind of birds' family noted for their exceptionally fast flight. In appearance swifts look familiar like swallows, but they are not related. Swifts are found practically throughout whole world. There are about 65 species, ranging in length between 3 ½ to about 8 inches (9 to 20 cm). swiftlet is one of smaller species in birds' family. Swiftlets are looks brownish or blackish but often with lighter markings. They are thin, Wings that curve backward. Swiftlets spend most of their time in the air; they eat insects captured in flight. Swiftlets have short feet, rarely perch on trees or rest on the ground. They are roost clinging upright on vertical surfaces. During nesting season, swiftlets create large salivary glands. They use the saliva to glue their nest, usually bits of vegetation, together. Certain species of cave swiftlets, native to Asia, make their nests almost entirely of saliva. The nests of these swiftlets are used to make bird's-nest soup. The eggs are white and the number ranges from one in some species to four or six in others.

South East Asia Swiftlets(Collocalia Family) are very unique birds. They have short bills, wide mouths, very small with crescent shaped wing. They are about the same size as sparrows, but their wingspan is wider than that of a pigeon. Swiftlets have a very strong ability and endurance on flying; being the fastest fliers and capable of flying 40 hours non-stop. They never perch or rest except when they are sleeping, building their nests, or feeding their chicks. The monogamous parents lay 2 eggs, incubated by both parents for 21 to 29 days. The chicks remain inside the nest for 43 days, before they are fully independent from their parents. The average lifespan of these birds are between 10 to 20 years.

Types of Bird's Nests
Bird's nests are classified according to the location where the nests are built, edibility, external features, color, quality and cleanliness and they can basically be classified into two main categories:

1. Cave bird's nest

Cave bird's nest refers to the nests built by swiftlets in natural stone walls or limestone caves. These bird's nests absorb lots of minerals and they are usually beige or yellow in colour and their nets are more solid. It’s contained more fine feathers compared to house bird's nests which contain more impurities. Cave bird's nests have to take longer time for soaking and it can expand 2-3 times more after soaking. Cave bird's nest can take longer hours for stew and still can’t melt the nest.

2. House bird's nest also call Swiftlets

House bird's nests are the birds (Swiftlets) built in swift houses. Swiftlets build their nests on the beams and walls in these houses, resulting in a slight taste of sawdust in such bird's nests. This Swift houses are built by human, it not a natural houses. They are using swiftlets sound system to attract Swiftlets come into swift house and let swiftlets build the nest in the houses. These kinds of bird’s nests are covered with feathers and other impurities, it is necessary to send them for cleansing at the bird's nest factory where feathers and other impurities have to remove. House bird's nests are higher in quality, with fewer feathers and less impurities. They expand average 5 to 7 times their original size in the water. They taste smoother but they cannot be stewed for long hours. They are normally stewed for 30-45 minutes before they are ready to be served. If stewing exceeds such periods (more than 1-2 hours), the bird's nest will dissolve in water and disappear.
*Whether it is house bird's nest or cave bird's nest, they are nests built by Collocalia ciphaga swiftlets and their nutritional value is almost at par.            


History of Bird's Nest
The first person to taste bird's nest

It has been said in the “Bai Shi Tong” that there was a person in Java, Indonesia by the name of Sato Nurod who saw swiftlets flying to limestone caves on mountains near the sea. His curiosity got the better of him and he decided to venture into the limestone caves. There were many beautiful bird's nests inside and he removed a few and took them home. At first, he thought it was jus fun but he decided to test for its taste. He cooked a few pieces of the bird's nest and found them to be tasty. News spread and the local people went to collect bird's nest from the limestone caves. After long periods of consumption, everyone felt healthy and energetic and that was when they realized bird's nest is a treasure. From then on, the tradition of bird's nest as a nutritional product was popularized. This may be just a legend and since it was ages ago, there was no way to prove its authenticity.

Historical records showed that when Admiral Zheng He sailed south (1405-1433 AD), at a time when barter trade was carried out between Chinese fleets and South East Asian countries, ceramics from the Tang Dynasty were traded for bird's nest from the people of Borneo (consisting of Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia). These were brought as tributes to the emperor and since then, bird's nest was regarded as a precious nutritional supplement.
Zheng He visited the coastal regions of Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand which are chief production places of bird's nest. It has been recorded that some 125,000 pounds of bird's nest consisting of some 4 million pieces were exported from Batavia, Java (now known as Jakarta) to China after the 17th century. This coincided with the seven voyages down south of Zheng He.

The following is a legend on how Zheng He discovered bird's nest: There was once Zheng He's fleet was caught in a thunderstorm on one of his trips down south. He floated to a deserted island in the Malay Archipelago. When there was a shortage of food, some of the sailors accidentally discovered there were swiftlet nests on the cliffs. Zheng He ordered his subordinates to take the bird's nests, cleanse them and stew as food. Several days later, everyone of his crew looked healthy and was full of energy. Upon returning home, Zheng He presented the bird's nest to the Emperor. From then on, bird's nest became an item used as tribute to the Emperor and court officials. Since then bird's nest has been traditionally used by Chinese royalties and ancient beauties and to maintain their beauty and body wellness.