birding-aus Edible birds' nests

[Merrilyn Serong <>]

Hi all
With talk of edible birds' nests, I wondered what they could be made of,
so did a search of the internet, and in case anyone else is interested
and doesn't already know, here is a quote copied from
www.funkandwagnalls.com on swifts:

"Swifts nest along vertical surfaces, building their nests of various
materials glued together with a cementlike substance secreted from their
salivary glands. Some species of the Oriental swiftlet genus Collocalia
make their nests entirely of this secretion, which is the principal
ingredient of "birds' nest soup."

Another website said the nests are very expensive at $30 or $40
(presumably US $) for enough to make two batches of soup.

Cheers,
Merrilyn

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