Swallow nest is an edible nest of swiftlet, a tiny bird found throughout South East Asia. The bird is from Apodidae family of Collocalia genus. This bird, using the sense of its echolocation, detemines its resting, nesting and sleeping place deep inside the dark cavity.
The swallow nest has a long history back to the Chinese Dynasty more than 500 years ago. Since the Chinese ancient doctors believed that the nest nutrient was good for lung and skin, the sea expeditions going to South East Asia were asked to bring back the nest for consumption of the Emperor and his family. At that time, most of the nests were taken from the dark caves located at the height near the seaside
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Just about a century (100 years) ago people accidentally found the nests inside the house. Then, they realized that this bird was willing to stay and make nest inside the house. It was then the moment when the swiftlet house ranch started with limited know-know. People do not feed the birds. They just let the birds fly out to catch the flying insects as their diet. Thus, the word ‘ranch’ is more appropriate than ‘breeding’.
Since people have got more advanced knowledge on birds and their behavior, people actively do the house ranch and now more than half of the total world production of swiftlet nests is coming from the house origin.
From location point of view, the swallow nest is classified to derive from two places of origin, namely the cave and the house.
Current development in health science refers to some water-soluble glycoprotein with a complex protein composition might influence medical properties in human body. This complex glycoprotein is found on the swallow nest.
People in Asian countries, especially the prospering Chinese, make the greatest demand for swallow nests. Consequently, swallow nest becomes one of the most expensive chinese health food delicacy in the world !
