1. small insect-eating birds of the swift family found in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, known for building nests from their saliva

Examples

• Swiftlets build their nests in dark caves using their own saliva.
• The edible nests of swiftlets are harvested to make bird’s nest soup.
• Swiftlets use echolocation to navigate in complete darkness.
• Many species of swiftlets are found throughout Indonesia and Malaysia.
• The white-nest swiftlet produces the most valuable nests for culinary use.
• Swiftlets spend most of their lives in flight, catching insects on the wing.