Creature Feature: 364 Gifts
There is a classic holiday carol titled “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, which is a song about someone's true love giving them luxurious gifts for twelve straight days, with each day becoming increasingly more grand. When listening carefully to the song, a few things can be determined. One, that this person has enough spending money to rival Jay Gatsby, and two, of the 364 gifts that are given, 185 of which are birds of some species or variety. In light of the holiday season approaching, it seems fitting to analyze the bird species highlighted in the song for this month’s Creature Feature.
The Partridge
The very first gift that is given before all else is a bird called a partridge found inside of a pear tree. A partridge is a ground-dwelling bird that is part of an order of birds known as the Galliformes. It is the same order in which turkeys, pheasants, and chickens are a part of. Depending on the species of partridge, their native range stretches across parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. However, some species, such as the grey partridge (Perdix perdix), have been introduced to North America, and may be found between the Great Plains and areas east of the Pacific Coast. Mostly foraging for seeds, younger birds will sometimes eat insects for additional protein. They are a ground-nesting bird, so sticking twelve partridges into their own pear tree is (probably) going to result in a dozen confused birds
The Turtle Dove
Our state may have the native mourning dove, and the introduced rock dove, but the song highlights another dove species that is likely the European turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur). The turtle dove is named not because it looks like a turtle, but rather the “tur-tur” sound it makes. Another bird that is found across Afro-Eurasia, the European turtle dove will migrate after the breeding season farther south into Africa, in regions that lay just south of the Sahara desert. At risk of hunting, it is described as a timid bird that forages for seeds in open woodlands. Who can say how this gift-giver managed to get twenty-two of them.
The French Hen
Hens from France? Regardless, they gave away thirty of them.
The Calling Bird
There is no one species of bird that is called the “calling bird” so this one is up for interpretation. One popular theory is that the calling birds are a reference to a type of blackbird. Whatever the bird species was, there were thirty-six that were given.
The Geese
The song talks about giving “six geese-a laying” over the course of seven days, which makes forty-two geese that are likely domesticated egg-layers, as opposed to a wild goose species such as the Canada goose, which are illegal to own anyways. If it were referring to a wild egg-laying goose, it is possible it would be a reference to the greylag goose (Anser anser) which are a wild ancestor to several domestic goose breeds.
The Swans
Some of the last birds mentioned were forty-two swans. Since the song appears to have originated in England, the swan most likely referenced would be the mute swan (Cygnus olor). The name is derived from the observation that they make significantly less noise and sounds compared to other swan species. Yet another Eurasian native, mute swans have been introduced to North America, particularly around the Great Lakes region. Mute swans will generally mate for life, and even reuse the same nest each year. The female will spend a little over a month incubating the eggs, with the offspring, called cygnets, hatching in the late spring/early summer. They are territorial if there is not enough space or food to form a community of swans, so hopefully the recipient has enough waterfront for both the swans and the geese or they’re going to have a problem on their hands.
How much property does this recipient have for all of these birds? How did their true love obtain all these lavish gifts? Like the amount of licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, the world may never know.
Partridge
Turtle Dove
Geese
Swan