Renamingis hard to swallow

THE powers that control the world of ornithology have decreed that we now call them European barn swallows but most Irish people just call them swallows. 

In Europe we only have one swallow, all the related species are called martins. In north America it’s different, they have half a dozen swallow species so confusion can occur and the word ‘barn’ is a useful addition.

There were a lot of them around the river the other day and I sat watching them for a while. Many were flying low and fast over the water, occasionally turning right or left and occasionally dipping their beaks into the river. Most experts on swallows are adamant that they feed by catching flying insects on the wing and that when they dip down to the water surface they are drinking. Close observation will reveal that this is only partly true.

In spring on an unpolluted Irish river huge numbers of aquatic insect larvae swim to the surface and metamorphose into winged adults. Fly fishermen know all about this and become excited when there’s a good hatch of olives or mayflies. The swallows know about it too. When the winged insect first emerges from its larval or pupal shuck it’s fairly helpless. It takes several seconds, sometimes minutes, for blood to pump along the veins to make the wings fully operational. The swallows capitalise on this vulnerability. Much of the time when they kiss the river surface with their beaks they are eating, not drinking.

Observation and common sense will tell you that on a May evening with insects hatching on the river a swallow does not need to take a drink every 20 seconds. In fact, when flying insects are scarce they have been observed foraging on the ground and they don’t only eat insects. If times are hard they will include seeds and berries in their diet.

There was a pool in the river close to where I was sitting and, as the river shrank back to its summer level, a little muddy beach had formed along the edge of the pool. The swallows made regular visits to this beach, settling for a few seconds and then flying off.

Through binoculars I could see they were carrying off small pellets of mud in their beaks to build nests. Or, more accurately, they were using the mud to repair nests. They like to use the same nest, year after year, and usually rear two broods in it each summer. This is quite unusual, most bird species like to build from scratch each year, which is believed to prevent parasites accumulating.

Nowadays almost all swallows nest in man-made structures. They like a spot where a horizontal surface meets a vertical one and have a definite preference for having a roof over their heads. The nest is made of mud pellets cemented together with sticky saliva and lined with soft feathers, grass or moss.

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