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The edible-nest swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphagus), also known as the white-nest swiftlet, is a small bird of the swift family which is found in Southeast Asia. Its opaque and whitish bird nest is made exclusively of solidified saliva and is the main ingredient of bird's nest soup , a delicacy of Chinese cuisine.
Edible bird's nests, also known as swallow nests (Chinese: 燕窝; pinyin: yànwō), are bird nests created from solidified saliva by edible-nest swiftlets, Indian swiftlets and other swiftlets of the genera Aerodramus, Hydrochous, Schoutedenapus and Collocalia, which are harvested for human consumption. Edible swiftlet nests, packaged for sale
The nests of Aerodramus swiftlets are constructed with saliva as a major component. In two species, saliva is the only material used, and the nests are collected for the famous Chinese delicacy 'bird's nest soup', the over-collection of which puts pressure on the swiftlet populations.
The swift family remains one of the more complicated groups of birds in taxonomic research, but the swiftlet tribe is a rather well-defined group. Its internal systematics is confusing; the plumage is usually dull, with shades of black, brown, and gray; from their outward appearance, most species are very similar.
The hardened saliva nests of the edible-nest swiftlet and the black-nest swiftlet have been used in Chinese cooking for over 400 years, most often as bird's nest soup. [21] Over-harvesting of this expensive delicacy has led to a decline in the numbers of these swiftlets, [ 22 ] [ 23 ] especially as the nests are also thought to have health ...
The Indian Swiftlet or Indian Edible-Nest Swiftlet (Aerodramus unicolor) is a small swift. It is a common resident colonial breeder in the hills of Sri Lanka and south west India. The half-cup nest is built on a vertical surface, often in a cave. The male swift uses thick saliva to construct the white, shiny nest into which two eggs are laid.
The uniform swift was formally described in 1832 by the French naturalists Jean Quoy and Joseph Gaimard from a specimen collected on the island of Vanikoro in the Solomon Islands. They coined the binomial name Hirundo vanikorensis. [2] [3] This swiftlet is now placed in the genus Aerodramus that was introduced in 1906 by Harry C. Oberholser. [4]
The Himalayan swiftlet has a twittering chit-chit roosting call, and also has a piercing teeree-teeree-teeree call.. What distinguishes many, but not all, swiftlet species from other swifts and indeed almost all other birds (the oilbird being an exception) is their ability to use a simple but effective form of echolocation to navigate through the darkness of the caves where they roost at night ...