World Swift Day
Le martinet / Swift
Last year this much loved bird was celebrated in thirty-nine countries across four continents. Despite Covid, all is well, the world is still working, the martinets are back again, swooping and screaming in the blue skies of Amboise.
In France it’s a martinet, in England it’s a swift. Germany, Italy, Spain and many other countries have their own names for this welcome visitor but (to misquote Shakespeare) a swift by any other name is still a swift.
The habits, the how’s, when’s, why’s and where’s of this enchanting bird differ according to which source you read. Some say it lands now and again, some say not. Some say it’s the fastest bird in the word, others dispute it. Some say it’s so fast no predator can catch it but the buzzard in the photograph below looks as if it’s thinking about it.
The consensus is that, apart from laying its eggs, the swift eats, drinks, preens, bathes, sleeps, mates and collects nesting material on the wing. A healthy bird is quite capable of taking off from level ground. Swifts are complex birds and many factors can cause a bird to be grounded. A professional swift carer should be consulted before attempting to launch or treat a swift. In Amboise this should be SOS 11 rue Rabelais Amboise. A local association dedicated mainly to the protection of black swifts. you can visit their site here sosmartinets.com
Swifts are monogamous, united for life. The same pairs return to the same nests year on year. Pairs occupying the same nest for ten successive years have been reported.
Martinets in France are protected, so too are their homes, odds are they will still be waiting for them when they arrive in Amboise, saving hours of work. Any disturbance or destruction of the nest is an offence punishable by law: 15,000 euros fine and/or a year in prison. The most common offence is the accidental destruction of a nest during renovation work.
Swifts nest five metres or more above ground in wall cavities, under the eaves of houses, gutters, roofs and ledges. They are very partial to rue Nationale and its side streets, rue de la Concorde and the island (Ile d'Or). The nest is built from materials the swift finds while flying mixed with saliva to form a cup. Swifts use man made nest boxes and have no fear of humans. It has one clutch a year. The female lays two or three eggs, incubation takes twenty days and her partner shares the brooding.
Its wings are long and narrow which makes it a rapid, precise hunter of flying insects. It can, we are told, catch up to 20,000 a day, although who is counting is anyone’s guess. This can take three hours. It stores its booty in the throat until it’s full, then returns to the nest to feed the young.
Both parents feed the young who do not leave the nest for six weeks. If the weather is bad and insects hard to find, a newborn can stay alive without food for forty-eight hours. Older chicks can survive several days.
When leaving the nest, the swift jumps and falls a couple of metres until it gains the necessary speed to fly.
Ah, swifts. He or She who is tired of swifts, is tired of Life (apologies to Dr. Johnson).
Post by Pamela, Photography by Mark.
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