Archive for February 15th, 2006
ag.ohio-state.edu/~news/story
Kurt Knebusch
knebusch.1@osu.edu
Dear Twig: Why do they call it birds nest soup? Is it really made out of birds nests?
In short: Yes. Birds nest soup is a Chinese dish that is made from the nest of a bird called the swiftlet. Swiftlets are small, fast birds of southeast Asia. They build their nests in groups high on cave walls. And they make those nests from something weird: saliva, or spit. Ick! The spit comes out in long, thin strands from glands that are located under the tongue. The strands are woven to make a nest that sticks to the wall like glue.
Ew. (But effective.)
It used to be the nests were harvested once or twice a year. The birds were able to raise their young. But lately, however, demand has soared. People are gathering more and more nests and are doing it more and more often.
Which, of course, is bad for the swiftlets. Scientists say their numbers are falling. If the harvest isnt reduced, some types could be gone — extinct — in only five or 10 years.
The gooey, gluey, spitty nests actually dont have much taste. The soup gets its flavor from other ingredients. And, contrary to folk belief, the nests have little nutritional value. They do have a special protein in them, one that boosts immunity. But cleaning the nest before cooking destroys it.
Loogily,
Twig
P.S. Swiftlet cousins in North America include the familiar chimney swift, Chaetura pelagica.
Dear Editor and Other Readers: Three swiftlet species are tapped for their edible nests: the aptly named edible-nest swiftlet, the also aptly named (and geographically more specific) Indian edible-nest swiftlet and the black-nest swiftlet. Some pretty thorough details about the swiftlets — their nests, the buying and selling of them, and the environmental issues — are at www.american.edu
/TED/SWIFT.HTM, part of a Trade Environment Database Web site from American University.
Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick,” a service of The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences — specifically, of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) and of Ohio State University Extension, both of which are parts of the College — is a weekly column for children about science, nature, farming and the environment. For details and to receive Twig free by mail, e-mail or fax, contact Kurt Knebusch, News and Media Relations, SCT, OSU/OARDC,1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, OH 44691, knebusch.1@osu.edu, (330) 263-3776. Available online at http://fusion.ag.ohio-state.edu/news/twig.asp. Available in Spanish as Cosa Curiosas con Juan Palitos at http://fusion.ag.ohio-state.edu/news/twigspanish.asp.
February 15th, 2006
stanfordalumni.org/birdsite/text/essays/Nest_Materials
Like a carton for store-bought eggs, nest materials help to cushion, insulate, and keep the clutch together. These materials may be of little importance for birds such as terns and murres, which require little more than a resting spot for their eggs. In contrast, nest materials can be critical for some species — as in the case of Bald Eagles, whose young require a durable playpen that an adult pair may maintain for decades.
An important function of nest materials gathered by ground-nesting precocial birds is to prevent their eggs from becoming embedded in sand or mud after heavy rains or flooding due to exceptionally high tides. Often only enough material is collected to create a buffer that raises the eggs off the substrate. Such a buffer also helps to guard against cracking when the eggs are rotated for uniform heating during incubation. In the case of many marsh-dwelling birds, the buffering layer may be expanded to form sides and sometimes extended to create a relatively fragile canopy, helping to hide the site.
Because the form of the nest varies from habitat to habitat, and must be adapted to fit a bewildering diversity of supporting structures, it is not surprising that an almost limitless variety of materials (including stones and mud, animal and plant products, and human-made artifacts) have at one time or another been incorporated into nests. Avian products that become part of nests include saliva (the main ingredient in cave swiftlet nests used in Chinese “bird’s nest” soup), ejected pellets, feathers, down, and guano. Feathers are highly valued, in part because of their capacity to trap air and provide insulation. Products of other animal species may include silk from cocoons and spider webs, cast snake skins, hair, fur, bits of cow pats, shells, etc. The variety of plant and manufactured products found in nests is enormous, including virtually anything that can be carried.
Some adhesive materials are required to bind and to provide support in adherent and hanging nests. Such materials include mud (swallows), saliva (swifts), caterpillar silk (hummingbirds, vireos), certain plant fibers, and leaf mold (Wood Thrushes). These binding materials can be remarkably durable. For example, cellulose, the major constituent of plant fibers, is waterproof and, ounce for ounce, stronger than steel. Other water-shedding substances used in nests include lichens and spider webs.
Some materials are selected specifically to help sanitize the nest. More than half of our hawk species routinely add fresh green leaves that contain natural pesticides such as hydrocyanic acid, which may inhibit infestation by insect parasites. Such preventive efforts are not limited to birds of prey. Users of old nest sites, such as starlings, can discriminate between helpful and ornamental leaves and select those that deter lice and bacteria for inclusion in their nests.
Avian ingenuity is seemingly boundless. For example, the Great Kiskadee is known to add the entire nest of the Vermilion Flycatcher to its own, presumably to increase its cushioning/insulating properties. Lists of nesting materials published by early ornithologists provide a sort of fossil record allowing us to trace changing patterns of use. Comparison of these records with contemporary observations of nest materials helps to document changes in the availability of materials. For instance, the Chipping Sparrow, at the turn of the century, was commonly referred to as the “hairbird” from its practice of lining its nest with horse hair. With the advent of mechanized travel and the decline of horses, both the trait and the name disappeared. Similarly, a number of contemporary inventions such as plastic insulation and cellophane may substitute for snake skin in nests of some flycatchers and titmice or replace other once common materials. Thus, nests used perennially could serve as storehouses of data. A White Stork nest still in use in 1930 dated to 1549. One 36-year-old nest of a Bald Eagle, which finally collapsed along with its supporting tree in a storm, contained two tons of accumulated material. Dissection of either nest could have proved a fascinating (if messy) enterprise.
February 15th, 2006
suarakarya-online.com/news
Tanya:
   Saya berencana memelihara burung Walet. Karena itu ingin mengetahui seluk beluk memeliharanya. Misalnya sifat alami burung tersebut, zat apa yang dapat menarik walet mau tinggal dirumah walet, dan dimana membelinya, serta berbagai kendala yang akan dihadapi oleh peternak dan bagaimana persiapan yang diperlukan. Atas keterangan yang Bapak berikan secara detil saya haturkan terima kasih dan atas ilmu yang bermanfaat yang diberikan kepada saya dan pembaca lainnya semoga mendapat ganjaran yang setimpal dari yang Maha Kuasa.
   Wassalam.
Priyono D
Jl Bong no.1, Rt 5/2,
Sidabowa, Patikraja,
Purwokerto, Jateng.
Jawab:
   Wah, kalau dijelaskan detil bisa habis halaman ini nggak bakal selesai, soalnya memang memelihara walet termasuk pekerjaan yang teliti dan mahal biayanya dan memerlukan kerja yang serius. Karena memelihara burung liar memang sulit, tapi bisa dilaksanakan dengan berbagai rekayasa tehnology canggih yang mahal dan telaten. Perlu diketahui sifat burung ini liar, pemakan serangga, suka terbang terus, kakinya lemah, tak kuat berdiri dan bertengger, suka suasana gelap dan lembab sarangnya dibuat dari air liurnya, ukuran panjang tubuhnya sekitar 10-16 cm, sayapnya panjang melengkung dan tubuhnya ramping, bulunya berwarna coklat kehitaman, telurnya hanya dua butir, mulai terbang jam 5 pagi dan pulang jam 5-7 sore, dsb.
   Sebelum membangun rumah walet (rumah “Tiban”) lebih dulu kita harus membuat penelitian, yaitu apakah banyak burung walet disana, bisa juga burung seriti. Kalau banyak,kita bisa membangun rumah walet.
   Untuk memikat walet agar mau datang dan tinggal dirumah banyak caranya, misalnya dengan cara pasif yaitu menunggu saja sampai ada walet yang mau mampir, tapi cara ini lama untuk mencapai hasilnya. Cara lain yaitu Semiaktif, dengan cara menyediakan serangga untuk pemikatnya dan kemudian dengan cara memikat dengan menggunakan suara walet dalam kaset/tape recorder. Cara lain yaitu menetaskan telur walet dalam rumah yang sudah ditinggali lebih dulu oleh Sriti. Cara ini akan memberi hasil yang bagus bila teliti dan sabar melakukannya. Selain itu ada juga dijual orang berbagai bentuk sarang imitasi, parfum pemikat, bubuk pemikat, kotoran walet, telur dan anak walet, kayu tempelen dan peralatan pembantu lainnya.
   Tentang kendala yang dihadapi dalam pemeliharaan walet cukup banyak antara lain maling sarang walet/pencuri, polusi lingkungan hidup walet, musuh walet seperti elang, alap-alap, kucing, musang dsb. Selain itu faktor pemasaran dan turun naiknya harga, transportasi, orang kepercayaan/pekerja. Banyak deh, urusannya, kalau tidak terjun menangani 100% pasti gagal, karena itu diperlukan ketekunan dan kesabaran dan kehati-hatian.
   Untuk membeli peralatan/alat bantu, buku dsb, sebaiknya menghubungi Buana Walet, di Komplek Sunrise Garden VX/7, Jl Macan, Daan Mogot, telepon 021-5689780. Sebaiknya anda magang dulu dan melihat bagaimana cara bekerja di perusahaan atau milik pribadi, agar diperoleh kepastian bisnis burung Walet ini, jangan hanya berdasarkan intuisi atau cerita orang. Kalau mau serius sebaiknya datangi alamat di atas karena kalau telepon acapkali tidak dijawab, bosan ngkali jawab telepon tanpa mau beli. Nah, begitu dulu secara singkat, kalau mau bukunya bisa juga dibeli di Gunung Agung atau Gramedia. Selamat piara walet. (Taufiq Rusdi MSc)
February 15th, 2006
bisnisbali.com/2005/01/05/news/ekonomi
Tabanan (BisnisBali) – Masih luasnya hamparan areal sawah dan hutan di Tabanan, berpengaruh terhadap ketersediaan pakan burung walet. Sumber pakan yang masih melimpah, membuat usaha budidaya burung walet bergairah. Harga sarang burung walet pun cukup merangsang antara Rp 14 juta sampai Rp 15 juta per kg.
Gusti Ngurah Gede Suputra, salah seorang peternak burung wallet, di Banjar Beng Kelod, Tunjuk, Tabanan mengatakan, di Tabanan usaha ini belum menemui hambatan berarti seperti yang dialami di daerah lainnya. ‘’Kami di Tabanan bersyukur karena sampai saat ini belum ada masalah mendasar. Sumber pakan burung walet masih cukup tersedia. Makanan yang cukup membuat walet masih betah tinggal di rumah walet,’’ ujarnya ditemui, Selasa (4/1) kemarin.
Peternakan ayam dan babi, kata dia, juga ikut mendukung usaha budi daya burung yang satu ini. Kedua jenis peternakan ini mengundang banyak serangga kecil yang beterbangan. Serangga-serangga beterbangan ini merupakan pakan burung walet.
Hal senada diungkapkan peternak burung walet lainnya. Tabanan sebagai daerah agraris, berpotensi untuk pengembangan usaha budi daya walet. Dengan pemeliharaan burung walet, masyarakat (petani) akan sangat terbantu. ‘’Serangga pengganggu tanaman petani akan dimangsa oleh burung walet, sehingga frekuensi serangan bisa ditekan,’’ ujarnya.
Tak mahal
Suputra mengaku, tidak benar ada kesan kalau beternak burung walet itu mahal. Mahal tidaknya modal yang diperlukan tergantung dari volume pembudidayaan burung walet. ‘’Kalau mau mulai dengan rumah ukuran kecil, saya kira modal Rp 20 juta sudah cukup. Lain masalahnya, kalau ingin buat rumah walet yang besar, modal yang diperlukan juga besar,’’ imbuhnya.
Bisnis ini, kata dia, sangat variatif. Dalam artian, bisa dijual sarangnya, fisik dan telurnya. Hanya saja kegiatan panen tergantung selera peternak itu sendiri.
Tipe panen, kata dia, secara umum ada tiga jenis yakni, panen tetas, buang telur dan rampasan. Panen tetas telur di antara tipe yang ada sangat bagus demi regenerasi burung itu sendiri. Sementara untuk panen buang telur dilakukan pada saat musim kemarau, saat burung agak kesulitan mencari pakan, sedangkan panen rampasan sering dilakukan peternak ketika awal musim hujan.
Disinggung harga masing-masing komoditas burung walet, ia mengaku tergantung mekanisme pasar. Untuk telur burung walet misalnya, dijual pada kisaran antara Rp 10.000 sampai Rp 26.000 per pasang. Sementara untuk piyik (bayi walet), dijual sedikit lebih mahal dari telur yakni pada kisaran antara Rp 27.000 sampai Rp 29.000 per pasang. Sarang burung walet saat ini masih pada kisaran antara Rp 14.000.000 sampai Rp 15.000.000 per kg. Untuk satu kilogram dibutuhkan antara 100 sampai 120 biji sarang burung walet. *can
February 15th, 2006