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Bird’s Nest Soup (A Soup Tonic)

Bird’s nest soup made with traditional ingredients has long been used as a tonic in Chinese medicine, and 10 protect the body against various ailments. Recent research on the nutritional value of birds’ nest has shown the presence of a soluble glycoprotein Ihal may promote growth, tissue repair and cell division within the immune system.

Building the Birds’ Nest

The bird makes chewing and retching movements of the bill and throat, as the saliva is regurgitated and worked around the mouth. Saliva is smeared on the edge of the nest with the sides of the bill. The nest takes shape as a pad of hardened saliva adhering to the wall. Subsequently a rim is [...]

Caves

Besides the swiftlets, an interacting community of animals known as troglodytes may be found in the caves. Bats are abundant. Both bats and swiftlets produce guano, which is fed upon by insects such as moths and cockroaches. These insects in turn provide food for other predalors such as bugs, centipedes and geckos. The mosl common [...]

Collecting Birds’ Nests

In Thailand this is carried out between February and July. Three collections are made each breeding season. Birds’ nests are usually found in the lofty and dark interiors of caves. The nest collector, armed with a small torchlight and rope, stealthily climbs up the bamboo still that leads him to the nest.

Collection Bird's Nests [...]

Birds’ Nests of Southern Thailand

Thailand is one of the major producers of edible birds’ nests, a delicacy in Chinese cuisine dating as far back as the Ming and Qing dynasties of the 17th century. The swiftlets (nok kin lom) nest in caves along the southwestern coast and on the offshore islands. They find their way by echolocation. A series [...]