Breeding Ecology of the Edible-nest Swiftlet Aerodramus fuciphagus and the Glossy Swiftlet Collocalia esculenta in the Andaman Islands, India

Abstract

The intriguing biological feat of making nest with its saliva is threatening the survival of the edible-nest swiftlet. Ever since the16th century when bird’s nest became a delicacy in Chinese cuisine and an important item in their pharmacy, edible nest swiftlets are found overexploited all over. In the past two to three decades the production of the edible bird’s nests has reduced drastically because of overexploitation and uncontrolled harvesting that is directly affecting the population of this cave-dwelling species. The high demand in the international markets has put so much pressure that despite strict regulations on nest collection, the wild populations of the edible-nest swiftlets is plummeting by as much as 80% to 90% and has reached local extinction across some of their ranges. To understand the nest-site requirements of the species, their nest-site characters, preference and the relationship with nesting success were studied. Results showed that the edible-nest swiftlet and the glossy swiftlet are cave dwelling trogloxenes and do not nest randomly inside the caves