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       Indonesia Dispatch

       5-Star Bird Houses for Picky but Precious Guests: Nesting Swiftlets

       To lure swiftlets, whose saliva-built nests fetch high prices in China, people in Borneo compete to build them the most luxurious accommodations: safe, clean, dark and with pools for bathing.

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       Not a prison nor a fortress, but a bird house on Borneo for swiftlets, whose nests fetch high prices in China.

       By Richard C. Paddock and Muktita Suhartono

       Photographs by Nyimas Laula

       Richard C. Paddock, Muktita Suhartono and the photographer Nyimas Laula spent four days in northwest Borneo reporting this story.

       April 2, 2024, 5:01 a.m. ET

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       With no windows, the gloomy, gray building looming four stories above the rice fields in a remote village in Indonesian Borneo resembles nothing more than a prison.

       Hundreds of similar concrete structures, riddled with small holes for ventilation, tower over village shops and homes all along Borneo’s northwestern coast.

       But these buildings are not for people. They are for the birds. Specifically, the swiftlet, which builds its nests inside.

       Zulkibli, 56, a government worker who built his giant birdhouse in the village of Perapakan in 2010, supplements his income by harvesting the swiftlets’ nests and selling them for export to China.

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       The nests, made from the birds’ saliva, are the key ingredient in bird’s nest soup, an expensive delicacy believed by many Chinese to have health benefits.

       Image

       A freshly harvested swiftlet’s nest.

       Map shows the location of Perapakan in the Sambas Regency on Borneo, Indonesia.

       15 miles

       South China Sea

       malaysia

       sambas regency

       indonesia

       Perapakan

       Singkawang

       malaysia

       borneo

       Detail

       area

       West

       Kalimantan

       indonesia

       Indian Ocean

       Java

       Sea

       Jakarta

       500 MILES

       By The New York Times

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       Richard C. Paddock has worked as a foreign correspondent in 50 countries on five continents with postings in Moscow, Jakarta, Singapore and Bangkok. He has spent nearly a dozen years reporting on Southeast Asia, which he has covered since 2016 as a contributor to The Times. More about Richard C. Paddock

       Muktita Suhartono reports on Thailand and Indonesia. She is based in Bangkok. More about Muktita Suhartono

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