Nantucket Independent, MA – 22 hours ago
by Kenneth Turner Blackshaw
This week’s bird, like last week’s, has greatly benefited from its association with humans but, unlike the Rock Pigeon, has done so without having its reputation soiled. Truly, almost everyone loves swallows. This is the national bird of Estonia, representing clear blue sky and happiness!
Our swallow is just now returning from spending the winter as far south as Argentina. We are talking about the Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica. Pliny the Elder referred to it as ‘hirundo’ in his writing, and ‘rustica’ connects to the countryside. Originally North America’s Barn Swallow was thought to be a different species from the European ones and was given the species name ‘erythrogaster’ meaning red-bellied. Nowadays that name is just tagged onto the end as a subspecies.
But what’s this about ‘Quaggas’? Quaggas went extinct in the late 19th century. They lived in South Africa and were like zebras but only had stripes on the head and neck. How could you connect them to swallows? I’m going to make you wait for that one.
Barn Swallows are larger in length than sparrows, but fully a third of that is tail. This species is the only swallow with a true ‘swallow’ tail. The adults have long streamers astern. These graceful appendages are spread wide and snapped together as they go through their aerobatic flight. Their color is an iridescent blueblack above, with deep red-orange on the throat and a lighter orange wash on the belly.
Their diet is almost completely insectivorous – the studies say 99.82 percent. Reminds me of Ivory Soap being 99 and 44/100ths percent ‘pure.’ I always wondered about that remaining 0.56 percent.
So Barn Swallows consume a huge amount of insects, catching virtually all of them in flight. Between all this flying to catch food, and their long migration route, it was once estimated that a ten-yearold Barn Swallow would have flown more than 2,000,000 miles. Most Barn Swallows don’t make it to that age, however.
Barn Swallows have always benefited greatly because of man’s activities. Before we built structures to which they could attach their nests, they were restricted to nesting on rocky ledges and in caves. Their name indicates their preference for a nesting site. In Asia they are called ‘House Swallows,’ not so many barns there, and in England, simply the Swallow. Other swallow-like birds are called martins there.
The swallows arriving now are almost all males. Early males claim the best territory but it’s also a risk since they are dependent on insects in order to live. A prolonged cold snap can result in starvation. Once the girls arrive the courtship flights are spectacular. Then you can hear the exhilarating trills and chortles of these artistic fliers as they develop their pair bonds.
Barn Swallows build mud nests, actually creating an adobe-like material with mud and straw. They industriously gather sticky mud and patiently roll it into little balls that are then scooped up and balanced atop their beaks as they fly to the nesting spot, typically high under an eave. These little ‘bricks’ are then applied to the wall. Even the smallest amount of texture is enough for them to plaster onto. Mixing mud with straw, horsehair, or other fibers makes this a strong enough platform to provide a nesting cup, often lined with feathers. Both Mom and Dad work together on this project constantly for a week or more, up to 14 hours a day. These are social birds and frequently there will be a group of nests under a single eave.
Nesting sites can be very creative. One pair nested for years on a railroad car that made a two-mile round trip every day. Also they have nested on a series of steamships that ply Lake George in upstate New York.
After raising, in some cases, two broods of five youngsters by late August our Barn Swallows are on their way south again. I won’t discuss Monty Python’s assertion that they carry coconuts with them as they fly. Heaven knows, a 14,000-mile round trip is difficult enough without baggage.
Barn Swallows are among the first signs of autumn on the Florida peninsula. From the first of August on, a steady stream of them heads south along the gulf beaches. Our eastern population crosses the Caribbean while those in the west go through Mexico. Despite a long and arduous annual migration, with the help of humans, Barn Swallows are thriving.
Perhaps you are still wondering about swallows and Quaggas. The connection leads us to Pieter Boddaert, a Dutch naturalist from Utrecht. He provided the name for our swallow and also for the Quagga, Equus quagga. Maybe he was ‘gaga’ about Quaggas, but that idea is a bit hard to ‘swallow’ since he probably never encountered live specimens of either Quaggas or American Barn Swallows. At any rate, Mr. Boddaert is the link between these two very diverse animals.
George C. West creates illustrations for these articles. If you enjoy ‘social’ birding, join the Nantucket Bird Club at 8 a.m. Sundays in front of Nantucket High School for a two to three hour birding trip. Call 228-1693 for more information. To hear about rare birds, or to leave a bird report call the Massachusetts Audubon hot line at 1-781-259-8805. Ask Ken a question at: kenandcindy1@comcast.net.
