aerodramus.com
Burung Swiftlets terdapat di dalam empat jenis iaitu Aerodramus, Hydrochous, Schoutedenapus dan yang tinggal ialah spesis collocalia. Di Indonesia Swiftlets dikenali sebagai Walet. Spesis ini juga dikenali sebagai Collocalia. Spesis ini tinggal di kawasan pesisir Tropika. Collocalia mempunyai sayap yang kecil dan panjang untuk membolehkan ia terbang dengan pantas, dan mempunyai paruh yang kecil yang dikelilingi bulu-bulu pendek untuk menangkap serangga yang berterbangan.
Satu fakta yang menarik mengenai burung ini, mengapa ia harus di perolehi kerana sarangnya boleh digunakan untuk membuat sup sarang burung. Semasa musim membiak, spesis ini akan menambahkan kelenjar air liurnya untuk menghasilkan air liur yang istimewa yang boleh melekit untuk membaluti ranting-ranting kecil dan bersama-sama bahan lain untuk membina sarang.
mengenai sarang burung
Di dalam masyarakat cina mereka beranggapan sarang burung merupakan tonik kesihatan yang efektif. Sarang ini dihasilkan oleh swifts(burung) yang mengeluarkan hasil dalam bentuk gel yang kaya dengan tenaga.Para penyelidik moden telah mendapati ianya mengandungi kualiti kesihatan. Sarang burung ialah datang dari lelangit burung layang-layang, yang mengandungi makanan penyubur yang tinggi dimana masyarakat cina memanggilnya “kesan keremajaan”. Para saintis moden telah membantu para golongan tua untuk mempercayai bahawa sarang burung mengandungi protein (penting dalam hidup), vitamin dan pelbagai kandungan mineral.
Kajian mendapati sarang burung mengandungi faktor pertumbuhan epidermal. Dengan ini menjelaskan kepada kita, pengamal herba cina selalu memilih sarang burung untuk mengubati penyakit tumbesaran terbantut dan tidak subur.
Kajian penyelidik makmal juga mendapati sarang burung mengandungi glyco-protein dan penyerapan untuk sistem immunisasi. Penemuan kini menyokong dan menguatkan lagi bahawa sarang burung menggalakkan pertumbuhan dan pembaikan tissue badan.Bukan itu sahaja, sarang burung menguatkan lagi antibodi melawan penyakit.
sarang burung untuk penjagaan kesihatan
Masyarakat Cina mempercayai bahawa setiap kepingan air liur begitu kaya dengan protein dan vitamin. Kaum perempuan beranggapan,sarang burung adalah salah satu ramuan kecantikan. mereka juga percaya bahawa kandungan protein dan vitamin yang terdapat pada sarang burung boleh membantu melicinkan kulit dan awet muda.Sarang Burung juga baik untuk paru-paru,penghadaman dan membantu melindungi kekeringan menyeluruh semasa menjana sistem imunisasi.
August 10th, 2006
birding.in
photo © Charlie Moores
Edible-nest Swiftlet (Collocalia fuciphaga), also called Andaman Grey-rumped Swiftlet, is part of a group of birds called the Cave Swiftlets. They form the Collocaliini tribe within the Apodidae family. The group contains around thirty species mostly confined to southern Asia, south Pacific islands and north eastern Australia. Edible-nest Swiftlet is found in the Andaman and Nicobar islands of India. These birds are more common in Andaman as compared to the Nicobar islands and they inhabit rock caves near the shore. The Cave Swiftlets use a simple but effective form of echolocation to navigate in total darkness through the chasms and shafts of the caves they utilize for night time roosting and breeding.
Edible-nest Swiftlets are small, dark brown, slightly fork-tailed birds (size 12 cm). They are in many respects typical members of the Apodidae having narrow swallow-like wings for fast flight, with a wide gape and small reduced beak surrounded by bristles for hawking insects in flight. The breeding season is mainly March and April. The nests are white, opaque, 6 cm across and of the best commercial (edible) quality. During the breeding season, the salivary glands of this species expand to produce the special inspissated saliva for binding twigs and other detritus together for building the nest, which is a shallow cup stuck to the cave wall. Only those species whose nests are ‘white’ and made purely or almost purely of saliva are the most prized. The nests are harvested from cave walls.
Edible Nests
The Edible-nest Swiftlet is renowned for the fact that their nests are used for making bird’s nest soup in Chinese cuisine. When cooked, the birds’ nests have a gelatinous texture. In Chinese cuisine, high medicinal and aphrodisiac qualities are ascribed to these nests. Scientific investigations reveal these nests to be high in protein with about 7% lime. Many consumers of bird nest soup report significant improvement in appetite. However, some others noticed excessive secretion of gastric acid that may cause acid reflux symptoms.
There is some concern that over-harvesting is causing several species of cave swiftlets to become scarce. Bird nest merchants in southeast Asia (including Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand etc.) have started to raise and breed the swiftlets in house-like structures. They build the shelters to attract wild swiftlets to build nests in them. The wrong kind of nests are then destroyed along with the eggs inside. Over time, the selection process only leaves behind a colony of swiftlets that produce the right kind of nest for the trade. “House nests” are priced much lower than the “cave nests” due to the level of risks involved in the harvesting process.
Guano from the Swiftlets and the many bats that inhabit the caves supports an array of specialized animals that feed on the dung. There are yet other creatures that have evolved to feed on these dung eaters as well as the bats and the swiftlets themselves including among others, snakes that can climb the sheer walls to snatch a passing meal and huge carnivorous crickets that prey on chicks and bat pups. This ecosystem is totally self sustaining, the only link being the birds and the bats that bring the nutrients into the caves in the first place.
August 10th, 2006