Posted on 10/23/2023 11:47:41 AM PDT by Red Badger
SWALLOWS DEPART FROM SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO DAY
On October 23rd, the Swallows Depart from San Juan Capistrano Day marks the migration of thousands of swallows.
#SwallowsDepartFromSanJuanCapistranoDay
The famous cliff swallows of San Juan Capistrano leave town every year in a swirling mass near the Day of San Juan (October 23). They head for their winter vacation spot 6,000 miles south in Goya, Corrientes, Argentina. Each year, they return on or about March 19th - St. Joseph Day. Their migration has been marked for generations.
Cliff swallows are cousins of barn swallows and purple martins.
Swallows have long, narrow wings, forked tails, and weak, tiny feet. Incredibly graceful in flight, they feed on the wing, catching insects in their wide mouths; they can effortlessly make abrupt changes in direction or speed as they feed.
The cliff swallow has a rusty rump, and when seen from below, it appears to have a squared-off tail and a dark patch on the throat.
HOW TO OBSERVE SWALLOWS DEPART FROM SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO DAY
Learn more about cliff swallows and their family members. Sketch or photograph them. Watch videos of them in flight. Study their habitat and follow their migration path. Listen to a recording of their song. Use #SwallowsDepartFromSanJuanCapistranoDay to post on social media.
SWALLOWS DEPART FROM SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO DAY HISTORY
National Day Calendar® continues researching the origins of this migration day.
Do they have tiny little calendars?...................
OK, time to clean up the mess...
I’ve heard about this annual migration for years.
Good to know they continue to thrive in numbers worth migrating.
I also used to hear about Monarch Butterflies migrating in large numbers around this time of year. I haven’t heard anything about that movement for a while.
Perhaps that species is dwindling, at least in California.
We still see them passing thru on the way to Mexico...............
Didn’t even know Harris was in San Juan.
African or European?
When the area runs out of coconuts they leave.
Indo-European.................
Contrary to the reports from knee jerking alarmists, they are thriving well.....
For three years in a row, migrating orioles from South America to here in Michigan arrived at my oriole feeder on May 2......
I take that back, last year they arrived on May 3 but that may have been due to the enormous amount of road construction here in S.E. Michigan....
but that may have been due to the enormous amount of road construction here in S.E. Michigan.........
They drove?...................
So, what was Eric swallowswell doing in SJC any way?
Eating Chinese.......................
Brazil is one hell of a long way from Michigan, you don’t really think they flew all the way do you?
They are cliff swallows so they took notes.
Avogadro tipped them off with his tiny 23.
It was the long lines at the airport check-in..............
Split tail, rosy rump....it’s her, alright. .
Great picture!
n.b. - that’s a Barn Swallow, not a Cliff Swallow.
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