Swifts, Swallows and Martins

Swifts belong to the family Apodidae, whilst Swallows and Martins are Hirundinidae, and although not closely related, certainly bear a superficial resemblance to each other. They are migratory, arriving in the Loire area in the spring and departing again in late summer or autumn. They zoom about the sky catching insects and continually and characteristically vocalising.

Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica: Flies low over crops and meadows catching flies and even the occasional dragonfly. Often seen perched on overhead wires, especially in late summer when juveniles start to gather and the flocks amalgamate ready for the migration back to Africa. Emits a constant stream of chattering, whirring and buzzing noises both in the air and at rest. They nest inside buildings on ledges against a wall. They are a glossy deep blue with rusty red bib, blue breast band and white belly. Adults have long 'streamers' on their tails. They arrive in March/April, often returning again and again to the same nest site, and depart with their multiple broods in September/October. Below, photographed in the Brenne, June. The adults are hunting over the reeds of the Etang de la Gabriere, juveniles are on the ground or in a tree near the Maison du Parc.

Juveniles in the grounds of the Chateau de la Chatonniere.

Juvenile Barn Swallows (and some House Martins) gathering on the electricity wires outside our home in Preuilly sur Claise in the autumn prior to their first migration to Africa.

House Martin Delichon urbica: Glossy blue-black above, pure white below, white rump, forked tail. Hunts insects on the wing over agricultural land, near water and woodland . Makes a mud nest under the eaves of buildings. They arrive here in April to breed during the summer and depart in October to spend the winter in Africa. This species appears in the Touraine some days after the first Barn Swallows arrive back in the spring. Their numbers have declined dramatically (over 40% in the last 25 years), due to reduced numbers of insects in Europe. (Fr. Hirondelle de fenêtre) and a reduction in suitable nesting spots (despite it being illegal to destroy their nests).  They eat 'aerial plankton', mainly gnats and aphids.

House Martin in the nest on the chateau of Chenonceau.

House Martin and nest on the chateau of Chenonceau.

On the Chateau of Chenonceau.

Feeding young on the chateau of Chenonceau.

Leaving the nest on the Chateau of Chenonceau.

Leaving the nest on the Chateau of Chenonceau.

A juvenile pokes its head out from the nest. You can clearly see the method of construction using small balls of mud, and the way the nests are tucked in just under the eaves.

Common Swift Apus apus: In French le Martinet noir. Larger than the previous two species. 'Apus' means 'footless' and the bird is so named because the ancients believed swifts had no feet. They do in fact have very short legs and will cling on to the vertical surfaces of walls, but if you see one on the ground it is in trouble. They are about 16 cm long with a wingspan of 40 cm. They are blackish brown with a white chin, short forked tail and wings that form a crescent when flying. The birds are very noticeable as they fly in groups, wheeling and screaming. With the loss of ancient woodland and the resulting hollow trees, swifts are almost entirely dependent on manmade nest sites, especially gaps under eaves and in roofspaces. The same pairs return to the same nest sites. The nest is made from bits of flying feather and hair, vegetative material and cobwebs caught on the wing and glued together with saliva. They eat insects and spend almost all of their lives on the wing (more than any other bird). They can fly at speeds of above 100 km/hour. The species migrates to the Loire Valley from Africa to breed.

Swift nest boxes installed under the eaves of a house in Amboise.

Swift nest boxes installed in the window recess of a house overlooking the Loire in Amboise.

Measuring up prior to installing swift nest boxes under the eaves on a north facing barn wall in Preuilly.

The interior of a swift nest box, showing the glued in ring to give the swifts a head start. Because they catch their nesting material on the wing it can take them quite a long time to build a nest.

Swifts don't like to nest below 5 m  above ground so you need to find someone with a long ladder to install nest boxes for them.

Fixing swift nest boxes under the eaves of a barn in Preuilly.

Swift nest boxes under the eaves on the north facing side of a barn in Preuilly.

Swift nest boxes can be very unobtrusive on a building (even more so if you use a special hollow brick insert type).

Just about to fix a swift nest box under the eaves of a barn in Preuilly.

Common Eurasian Crane - Grus grus

The area covered by this website is on the migration route for many species coming up from North Africa, through Spain and across France to Scandinavia in the spring and making the return journey in the autumn. Every year, in late February to March, and again in October, strings of Common Eurasian Crane Grus grus can be seen flying over (and heard -- they call to one another loudly and continually in flight).  They navigate by following geographical features such as rivers and will use wetlands such as the Brenne as rest and recuperation stopovers. In recent times a few cranes have taken to overwintering in the Touraine Loire Valley and Brenne.

Note that if you see a flock of big, black and white, long necked, long legged birds flying silently overhead, these are White Stork Ciconia ciconia. The pale grey Cranes can look black and white in flight, but the key difference is that they are always very noisy in flight, Storks are always silent.

The crane migration is monitored by a network of observers who record their sightings on www.grus-grus.com.

Further information about Common Eurasian Cranes can be found on ARKive.

Cranes over our orchard, February.

Cranes flying over our house. Photographing them and counting them is a good way of determining how many there are in each flight. This photo has been modified to facilitate counting the individuals. There are 622 cranes in this photo. Click on the image to enlarge so you can see each individual bird.

Ring-necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus

Scientific Name: Phasianus colchicus (Phasianidae). 'Phasianus' = 'pheasant'; 'colchicus' = 'Colchis' (an ancient kingdom on the Black Sea).

English Name: Ring-necked Pheasant; Common Pheasant (Fowl family).

French Name: Faisan de colchide (='Colchis peasant'); Faisan à collier (='necklaced pheasant'); Faisan de chasse (='hunt pheasant'). Females are called la Faisane or Poule faisane.

5 Key Characters:

• males 90 cm; females 50 cm.
• usually has a white neck ring.
• males come in many colour forms, and they can be nearly white or nearly black, but usually as shown in the photo.
• males have long brown tail flecked with black that is more than half their length.
• body feathers golden and chestnut with dark flecks and an irridescent sheen.

Lookalikes:

Habitat: Requires calcium, so favours limestone areas. Eats grains, insects, berries, worms and molluscs.

Status: Introduced to France in the Middle Ages. Most abundant pheasant in Europe. It is hunted and raised for its meat.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

A male guarding a female in the grounds of a chateau, May.

Barn Owl Tyto alba

Scientific Name: Tyto alba (Tytonidae).


English Name: Barn Owl (Barn-owl family).


French Name: Chouette effraie (='Scary Owl '); Effraie des clochers (='Belfry Scarer').

Photo courtesy of Aigronne Valley Wildlife.

5 Key Characters:

• medium sized owl.
• rounded long wings.
• very distinctive head.
• light brown above, speckled with black and white spots.
• greyish white underneath.
  

Lookalikes: Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus, which is much rarer.


Habitat: Open areas, farmland,  lightly wooded, dotted with bushes or traversed by hedges, old buildings, barns, stables, ruins, belfries.


Status: Protected. Common. A pan global species. Newly independent juveniles are at risk of dying of starvation or collisions with fences, vehicles or buildings. Even if they survive into adulthood they rarely live longer than two years.


Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

A dead Barn Owl is inspected by a member of Sauve Qui Plume, a wildlife rescue organisation.

 

A dead Barn Owl is inspected by a member of Sauve Qui Plume, a wildlife rescue organisation.

The foot of an injured owl. The injury was caused by twine wrapped tightly round the leg.

The pinioned wing of an injured owl. Pinioning (chopping the tip of the wing off at the joint) prevents the bird from flying. It is illegal to pinion a Barn Owl. This bird was found alive on the side of the road, but subsequently died after rescue, very underweight.

Herons and Bitterns - Ardeidae

Black Crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax: Photographed next to the Etang de la mer rouge in the Brenne, June.





































Purple Heron Ardea purpurea: Photographed in the same place at the same time as the Black Crowned Night Heron above.












Little Egret Egretta garzetta:

In the Vienne River at Chinon. (Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus to the right.)

In the Vienne River at Chinon. (Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus to the right.)

Common Tern Sterna hirundo

Scientific Name: Sterna hirundo (Sternidae).

English Name: Common Tern (Tern family).


French Name: Sterne pierregarin.

5 Key Characters:

• long wings and graceful flight.
• black cap, with the rest of the plumage white and grey.
• red beak with a black tip.
• red feet and legs.
• forked tail.
  

Lookalikes: Other terns, especially Arctic Tern S. paradisaea, which has a more deeply forked tail and completely blood red beak.


Habitat: Along rivers and lakes, nesting on rocky islands, beaches and marsh edges.


Months Present: A summer visitor, April to September, nesting in large numbers at freshwater sites such as in the Brenne.


Status: Abundant with the population probably increasing. Habitat loss is the main threat, along with disturbance of colonies, predation and pesticides.


Photographed by Loire Valley Nature: