Edible Nest Swiftlet

This is a set of pictures related to the Edible Nest Swiftlet in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. This was a bird that the late Dr. Ravi Sankaran of SACON had worked on extensively. He was also attempting a new kind of effort to ensure the conservation of the bird whose nest is extremely highly valued in the international market. He unfortunately passed away earlier this year after suffering a massive heart attack.

For some of my writings on Ravi and his work on the edible nest swiftlet conservation program you can check the following links:
http://pankaj-atcrossroads.blogspot.com/2009/11/on-edible-nest-swiftlet.html
http://pankaj-atcrossroads.blogspot.com/2009/03/blog-post.html
http://pankaj-atcrossroads.blogspot.com/2009/02/protected-area-update-vol-xv-no-1.html

Challis Ek, Limestone caves, North Andaman Island. (July 2002)
Many cave complexes like these in the A&N islands are the nesting sites of the Edible Nest Swiftlet.

Nest of Edible Nest Swiftlet in the hand of a nest collector, Jarawa Creek, Baratang Island (1998)

Ravi with his project staff on the field site of Challis Ek, (2002)