Talk:Edible bird's nest

Edit Mistake

I added a reference to the section dealing with how white nests are adulterated to appear more like the higher-priced red nests. Not knowing that there was already a "Marcone" reference, I created a new reference from another of his articles, and named it "Marcone" which I believe has rendered the old reference non-existent. Please fix. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.118.186.63 (talk) 20:43, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

Impact on Swiftlets

Perhaps the article would benefit by mentioning whether or not harvesting swiftlet nests is a problem for the species. The article mentions that the nests are built during the breeding season. Are they harvested only after the breeding is done? 76.23.152.119 (talk) 18:49, 18 February 2008 (UTC) R.E.D.

I'd like to know too. It sounds like a cross between something only a poacher on a bounty hunt would risk his neck for & harvesting honey (bee vomit). I read somewhere that they are harvested by the numbers & that the birds have to make the nests over & over until blood stains the nests. & who was the first idiot who looked at a nest made of solid drool & though it would be tasty? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.17.118.100 (talk) 02:21, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

+1 surely the birds do not like this??? Why is there no section on this?71.236.2.96 (talk) 15:26, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

Blood red

The blood red nests are mentioned several times in the article, but not exactly defined. I know what they are from a fictional book, but it would be good if someone could give an explanation and a source for them. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.114.211.52 (talk) 21:17, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

(I'll find a source later) What happens is that after building the nests several times, the gland that produced the material in the bird become exhausted, and sometimes the bird may bleed due to exhuasion. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.126.75.181 (talk) 17:40, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

I am told that the red coloration is actually due to the growth of a red fungus and not blood. 86.136.143.199 (talk) 00:29, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Good evening sir, would your prefur your bird salyva with blood or fungus this evening? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.17.118.100 (talk) 02:23, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

I added the POV-check template to this article. The article states:

Some believe that taking all the nests benefits the swiftlets because the female will not lay her eggs in an old nest. Old nests are along cave walls where new nests could be built. Whether or not this idea of ‘cave cleaning’ benefits the swiftlet population, the method should still be limited.

Isn't this opinion (SHOULD be limited, regardless of its benefits or lack thereof) rather than fact? PubliusFL 14:02, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

I wondered this when I did my minor edit on this page, but decided I coudn't come to any conclusion without access to the paper cited (reference 2). I think it should probably at least be reworded along the lines of "according to (source)..."AlmostReadytoFly 19:52, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

Article edited, neutral-flag removed. In future try not to use neutral flag for such a minor NPOV matter, just edit the article. FieryPhoenix 7:06, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Chinese name

Is the Chinese name simply "swallow's nest" or can it have "soup" (tang) in the name? Badagnani 05:18, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Depends on what you are talking about. If you are referring to the nest itself, then it would be "swallow's nest', if you are talking about the soup made from it, then add the word soup. (duh) User:cecikierk

Taste

FOr those of us who will never eat it, please tell us how it tastes. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.235.88.168 (talk • contribs)

I remember trying it back when Hong Kong was still British. If I recall correctly it tasted pretty much the same way a chicken coop smells. --GSchjetne (talk) 22:29, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

Ramen Noodles

I know that, when I was growing up, this term was used to refer to Ramen noodles. I understand this usage to be mistaken. What I want to know is, is this mistake common. If so, it might bear mentioning in the article.

-- trlkly 02:24, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

replies to section Ramen Noodles or to section Taste?

I've tried this in Hong Kong, and I can tell you that it tastes like avian exrement. 70.95.233.49 12:45, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

You must eat bird shit on a daily basis if you know what it tastes like. --92.75.199.49 (talk) 19:36, 20 September 2017 (UTC)

Maybe there could be a market for bird poop soup at a much lower price. There must be a large amount of avian excrement from chicken farms.Flight Risk (talk) 02:03, 6 October 2023 (UTC)

harvesting

I commented out the sentence "The nests also contain argan oil[verification needed] made from argan nut.[1]". The Argan nut is from Morocco. The cave swiftlet is not. This was almost certainly an edit by someone who either mis-read or misunderstood the Massimo Marcone reference. The only connection to the argan nut and bird's nest soup is that the food scientist Massimo Marcone talks about investigating both items (separately, obviously, since they're not in the same place) in his latest book "In Bad Taste?".24.192.186.101 22:56, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

Health Benefits

It would be of interest to the readers to discuss the health benefits (and the supporting journal publications, for example) if any for such a delicacy. --Wikhull (talk) 02:21, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

Yes; the page mentions a purported nutritional value but doesn't qualify or quantify that. — JamesEG (talk) 04:51, 3 October 2017 (UTC)

The text "The nests are supposedly rich in nutrients, which are traditionally believed to provide health benefits" is not supported in the cite "Problems in the harvest of edible birds' nests in Sarawak and Sabah, Malaysian Borneo".

Here in SE Asia, I've heard people claim this, but I have yet to find a source I can cite.

Kortoso (talk) 06:28, 23 December 2019 (UTC)

Chemical composition

In the article the metal ions content are given. Does anyone know the chemical composition of the bird's nest? For example I presume the material contains proteins, and possibly glycoproteins to give it stickiness, does anyone know the amino acid composition? 86.136.143.199 (talk) 00:35, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

This would be good; see above. Maybe I'll do some research soon. — JamesEG (talk) 04:51, 3 October 2017 (UTC)

nest construction

I'm curious as to how the nests are made, how long do they take to be made, are they made entirely of regurgitated spittle, are they reused by future parents, are they harvisted if any eggs are present, those types of questions. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Flight Risk (talk • contribs) 00:53, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Bizarre Foods reference

I noticed that the Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern episode is mentioned as a reference. However, having just watched this on television, I can tell you that some of the information presented in the episode directly contradicts the information in this article. According to the Zimmern, the red nests are of lower quality and are less tasty than the white nests, and are therefore LESS expensive. I don't really have any idea about the relative truthinesses of the claims made by either the Travel Channel or random Wikipedia editors, but using Zimmern's testimony to support the present text of this article is akin to using a speech by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to defend the legitimacy of the holocaust. -99.61.189.200 (talk) 04:31, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

I found out about this watching Gordon's_Great_Escape season 2 episode 3 83.160.118.126 (talk) 04:56, 21 November 2013 (UTC)Me

Continuity error

Hi. In the Harvesting section, the second paragraph says 'both nests...' but up to this point, there has been no discussion of the fact that there are two different types of nest. I'm afraid I don't know enough to add the correct details. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.195.233.175 (talk) 20:48, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

unsourced trivia

I removed the following comment from the article, as there is no source listed. Furthermore, the lack of capitalization and informal style was out of place in an "encyclopedic" environment. I think, however, should an appropriate source be found, this fact would make for an interesting piece of trivia, but should perhaps not be located under the "Popular Culture" heading. Of course, adding a "Trivia" heading for a single sentence hardly seems worth the effort, but worrying about headings can wait until after a suitable source has been found.

" the most expensive bird nest cost $1280 for 1 piece found in singapore"

Thanks! 173.217.233.83 (talk) 11:49, 6 July 2011 (UTC)Rob

Splitting Birds Nest from Birds Nest Soup

Hi, can I suggest that Bird's nest soup be separated from Bird's Nest. 1. Bird's Nest is eaten all over East and South-east Asia. 2. Bird's nest soup is a specifically Chinese dish. 3. Bird's nest is eaten in a variety of ways, not just soup. You might want to try it as a sweet with condensed milk. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.177.18.92 (talk) 10:36, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Doesn't really warrant two articles, as either one will be a stub, or have duplicated material in both, I've moved the page to edible bird's nest, and ade bird's nest soup a sub section of it.--KTo288 (talk) 22:02, 9 March 2013 (UTC)

Over 400 years? How about over 1,000?

At the very beginning of the article it says "The nests have been used in Chinese cooking for over 400 years, most often as bird's nest soup." but this has been happening much longer than just 400 years according to this document I read:

"Trade of Swiftlet nests began in China during the T'ang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907)."

"Chinese have been eating the nest of the Swiftlet, a bird about the size of a sparrow found in Southeast Asia and the Indian Subcontinent, for over 1,000 years."

http://crystalswiftlets.com/China_-_Swiftlets_and_Edible_Birds_Nests.doc

Can someone amend this? BlueBerryWizard (talk) 23:53, 9 December 2014 (UTC)

Price of bird's nests.

I've edited the current price of bird's nests and added what I believe is a good source for the price based upon actual purchases.

Although I believe that they are among the world's most expensive food ingredients that don't include gold flakes, I have only found sources that are several years old, so I haven't changed the "citation needed" for that entry. Twistlethrop (talk) 04:44, 8 March 2017 (UTC)

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Cleaning

Are they cleaned after picking? How? --Error (talk) 00:57, 15 December 2020 (UTC)