A Hard Act to Swallow
Mon, 12 Oct 2009 9:09 am – Posted by Mandy | 11 Comments
Guest Bloggers: Campaign Manager for the Welcome Swallow, Phoebe Borwick & Haddon Smith
The Welcome Swallow is a newcomer on the New Zealand native bird scene. Winging it from Australia in the ’20s, it has made a big impression in its short time on these shores. A welcome addition, it is thought to have come to NZ when its annual migration from the Australian mainland to Tasmania was lead astray by a storm. It is a beautiful bird with dark coat of black and brown and a fiery red underbelly - indicative of it’s deep powerful presence and burning passion for its new home.
A vote for the Welcome Swallow is a vote for the new era of NZ bird life…
The Welcome Swallow is a hard act to swallow, fighting a winning battle for territory with the Piwakawaka, who shares it’s biological niche. In this modern cut-throat world of ours, ‘out with the old; in with the new’ is the best philosophy to follow. Indeed, NZ’s true blue natives have been happy to swallow their pride and take this Australian redneck under their wing.
A vote for the Welcome Swallow will bring fortune upon you and your family…
In ancient Greece the Welcome Swallow’s Northern ancestors were associated with household gods, and their presence was seen as a sign of the gods’ favour - to do a Swallow harm was to bring evil upon yourself and your family. This should not be ignored in light of the Welcome Swallow’s quest to become NZ’s 2009 BOTY (Bird Of The Year).
The Welcome Swallow is the bird best prepared to be a positive Ambassador for NZ…
Like ourselves, the Swallow family hails from Africa and has spread across the globe, now breeding on every continent bar Antarctica. Likewise, many breeds of Swallow are global roamers, choosing to migrate overseas annually. The Welcome Swallow is a very adaptable bird whose global networks and proven, innate ability to think on its wing-beat will help it to take NZ bird culture to the world.
A late, but welcome entry in this years bird of the year election, the Welcome Swallow is poised to take flight and your vote will see the Welcome Swallow come home to roost where it truly belongs - nestling proud among NZ bird royalty.
Apart formthe fact that the kiwi won BOTY the welcome swallow wpuldn’t be eligible to enter as it isn’t a native bird. Sorry welcome swallow …
Oh well, I suppose to be fair, if some birds that arrived from other shores and have survived here for years are eligible to be considered natives, who are we to ignore the welcome swallow?
This might be too hard a pill to swallow for some people though…., but it does bring up interesting thoughts about what’s native and what’s endemic, and all those things….
Hey, I’ve just flicked to the entry on this blog about spur-winged plover; and how it can be considered “as much a native as welcome swallow….”. Enough said, really….
Yes - the Welcome Swallow is a native (Heather & Robertson Field Guide). A native is a bird that is self introduced and breeding in NZ. Although much more recent, than most, it is as much a native as pukeko and fantail, both of which are arrivals from Australia. Even the harrier is a native. Difficulties can arrive when birds are introduced as well as naturally arriving (eg Sulphur-crested Cockatoo) or when mode or transport is indeterminate (did they fly here or come by ship?).
What about the Black Swan?
I understand that DNA tests of the extinct NZ Swan show that it was genetically identical to the Australian Black Swan.
I also understand that black swan were deliberately introduced by humans to NZ from Australia in the mid 1800s (although there is some suggestion that they may also have flown over here and re-established themselves).
1. Is the Black Swan then a human re-introduced “native species”
2. Should we be celebrating the re-establishment of this extinct NZ species instead of shooting them?
3. As a re-introduced (by humans) but native species would it be eligible for F&B’s Bird of the Year competition?
It’d probably be a more popular native than, say, spur-winged plover (sorry spur-wing fans…)..8-)
Goodness, at this rate, eligibility for Bird of the Year might have to be based on endemism. Suits us fernbird-fanatics, of course!!
Actually, most of the birds in the Top Ten are endemic aren’t they?
All are endemic except
Fantail and 10) Pukeko
Gerry McSweeney
The basic idea is that the black swan was made extinct, then reintroduced. Authorities sight absence of records between 1769 and 1864 as justification.
Radio carbon dating does not help us here, the spread at 1769 being 300 years, so cannot use this method to place live swans here during that time.
Do you know were the DNA tests were done, by whom? I would love to know. Please email me at rac32@waiakto.ac.nz
Robert Curtis BSc
Hi,
I m just wondering about welcome swallows that arrive on the beginning of the spring, have
of springs (couple of the nests on our property) and they disappear on the end of the summer.
This has been ongoing process for the last six years we have been living at particular property.
Where do they go? Do they stay in NZ or???
Hi Bob,
Where do you live? Welcome swallows do migrate to different parts of New Zealand. Some have even been found to gather in Norfolk island for the winter. People have seen groups of them fly from farewell spit to warmer climes up north. There seems to be no particular pattern to their movement though, some migrate south too!
Hope that answers your question…..
Hi Mandy,
Auckland, Blockhouse Bay.
Our welcome swallows are gone, so I presume it is the end of summer.
When they arrive I know it is beginning of spring.
This year they had 12 of springs as far as I could see.