The hunt for Swallow Birds Nest

Built by Swallow Birds Nest, tiny shelters have spawned growing industry in Myanmar town

The cries of amorous Swallow Birds Nest echo around the dark room, an unlikely gold mine for traders in southern Myanmar who are cashing in on rising demand for the edible nests from China’s growing middle class.

Dozens of buildings dedicated to the tiny birds have sprung up around Bokpyin in recent years, their grey concrete structures towering over the humbler wooden and brick homes of the town’s human inhabitants.

Every morning and evening, the air is filled with high-pitched twitterings blasted from loudspeakers that draw thousands of the swallow-like birds home to roost.

Edible Swallow Birds Nests have become one of the main industries in the town, traditionally known for producing the chewable stimulant betel nut as well as rubber and palm oil.

Traders can charge around $2,000 a viss (equivalent to 1.63 kg) for the tiny nests — more than the average person in Myanmar earns in a year.

The hunt for Swallow Birds Nest

“We started making man-made Swallow Birds Nests [houses] 10 years ago,” said Paing Set Aung, who owns one of the buildings where hundreds of Swallow Birds Nest make their homes in the rafters.

“Initially, there was a house where the birds came to roost by themselves. After that, people started to construct man-made bird houses.”

Most of the tiny white nests, which are made from solidified Swallow Birds Nest, are sold to neighbouring China.

Middle-class consumers

Long considered the reserve of the country’s wealthy elite, who ate them during lavish banquets, they are in increasing demand from middle-class consumers. Today, the global edible Swallow Birds Nest industry is estimated to be worth $5 billion, most of it produced in southeast Asia.

Myanmar’s exports have surged since 2011, the year the former junta handed over power to a quasi-civilian government. “Swallow Birds Nests are one of the main businesses in Bokpyin,” said local Lin Aung, who built his first house five years ago and is now on his third. “China is the top buyer of Swallow Birds Nests here.”

Little scientific data

Once across the border, the nests are transformed into one of the most expensive foods in the world.

little peer-reviewed scientific data When boiled in water, they dissolve into a gelatinous gloop, which is then made into desserts or drunk as a soup or a tonic that is said to prolong life and improve strength.

There is little peer-reviewed scientific data showing that nests have proven medicinal properties. Nutritional studies have shown the saliva to be mainly made up of protein, followed by carbohydrates.

In Shanghai restaurants sell the “the caviar of the East,” as it is known, for hundreds of dollars a bowl.