In this month of July the swallows wanted to gratify us by building their nest under the veranda of a room of our farmhouse: the room called heather, in homage to the dozens of specimens of this Mediterranean essence that we have lodged in our countryside.
The barn swallow, hirundo rustica, is a small diurnal migratory bird of the order Passeriformes, family Irundinids. It is a very adaptable species, present throughout Europe. Recognizable by the forked shape of the tail, the wingspan varies from 30 to 35 centimeters and the weight reaches a maximum of 25 grams. The plumage is black with blue reflections on the upper part, while the underwing is gray. The throat has an orange band of plumage in the young individual and reaches a bright red color in the adults.
Current climate changes are leading to a decline of the species, considered "almost threatened" in the red list of breeding birds in Italy. Threats linked above all to the modifications of the traditional agricultural management systems.
Borgo Segine, for its crops, oil, vegetables and fruit that it brings to the table for its guests, has adopted organic farming from the beginning. It is important, because the swallow feeds on insects, such as flies, mosquitoes, grasshoppers, crickets, dragonflies, beetles, moths hosted in our countryside. Thanks to this food habit, a symbiosis is created with the crops because it becomes a useful ally in the fight against insects harmful to the crop.
We wish that our swallows do not suffer the epilogue of the sadly famous swallow of the poem 'X August' by the great poet Giovanni Pascoli.
For this reason, TODAY, we have made the decision to remove the Erica room from the availability of
lodge there: the swallows of Borgo Segine will be able to hatch and feed their chicks undisturbed ed
fly off in autumn towards sub-Saharan Africa.
With the hope of seeing them again and hosting them again next year.
Ad maiora.
Mario