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Swallows
On a Mission
Every year on March 19,
people at the Mission at San Juan Capistrano in California look up in the
sky and see their first swallows of the year. It sounds impossible that
swallows could time their migration so precisely--and it is! The swallows
that have been nesting on the walls of the Mission to rear their young are
Cliff Swallows. In San Juan Capistrano they've been a village tradition
since at least 1777.
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| Photo:
James R. Gallagher |
Most years, the first
Cliff Swallows arrive in California sometime between early February and
mid-March. In very rare years they don't get back until late June. But virtually
every year at least a few Cliff Swallows return to San Juan Capistrano before
March 19. How come so many people see their first one exactly on March 19?
It could be that they simply keep their eyes down, trying not to pay attention
to swallows, until that day each year. Watching for swallows at Capistrano
on March 19 is a long-standing tradition, so TV and newspaper reporters
often cover the event. Most reporters, however, aren't birdwatchers. One
TV news report about the "Swallows of Capistrano" actually showed
White-throated Swifts! Check out this picture of a swallow and YOU won't
make that mistake!
Did You Know?
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| Photo:
James R. Gallagher |
The Cliff Swallow makes
a nest of mud pellets but shapes it like a hollow gourd with a hole for
the parents to enter and the babies to look out. The babies and parents
recognize each other's voices.
Most swallow species spend the northern winter in South America, and
start heading north in February. Days are getting noticeably shorter in
Argentina by then, and the birds grow restless. People have counted thousands
of swallows passing over Panama as early as February 24. As they continue
northward, they join up with Tree Swallows and Violet-green Swallows from
the Gulf Coast, and move into the US in early March. The first swallows
to continue on to colder areas of the central and northern states and
the Canadian provinces are almost always Tree Swallows, which can survive
colder temperatures than other swallows.
Try
This! Journaling Question
- Why do you think
the cliff swallows come to the Mission at San Juan Capistrano?
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