There are differences between bird’s nest and swiftlet nest in several aspects. Firstly, let’s focus on their essential compositions: Bird’s nest specifically refers to the nest constructed by a mixture of saliva secreted by certain species of swiftlet and Collocalia along with other substances. In contrast, swiftlet nest is mainly built by the Grey-rumped Swiftlet, which tends to use saliva mixed with its own feathers to build nests, with feather content ranging from 10% to 50%.
Secondly, the differences in their origins are noteworthy. Bird’s nest is mainly found in Southeast Asia such as Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, as well as coastal regions of Fujian and Guangdong in China. These bird’s nests are widely believed to have nourishing, lung-moistening, and qi-replenishing effects due to their rich content of carbohydrates, organic acids, free amino acids, especially sialic acid, making them a premium therapeutic food highly favored by consumers worldwide. On the other hand, as a classification of cave swiftlet, swiftlet nests are found in places like the Philippines, Indonesia, Sabah, and Sarawak in Malaysia. The caves of these swiftlets are often located in national parks, forest reserves, and coastal islands such as Kinabalu and Borneo.
Furthermore, there are differences in their components as well. The main nutritional components of bird’s nest are proteins, including essential amino acids and three conditional essential amino acids. There are eight essential amino acids and thirteen conditional essential amino acids needed by the human body. During the collection process, bird’s nests are usually underwent the process of feather removal to enhance their appearance, while those bird’s nests sold directly without feather removal are known as swiftlet or swiftlet nests.
In conclusion, bird’s nest and swiftlet nest not only exhibit distinct features in terms of construction materials, origin environment, and nutritional handling, but these differences also affect their positioning and applications in the market.
