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The swift (Apus Apus) is a bird with a strong tendency to nest in colonies, even very numerous ones, and has the particular habit of carrying out festive carousels made up, at times, of hundreds of specimens. Not to be confused with the swallow, of which it is not even a relative, the swift stands out for its significantly larger dimensions, for its longer, narrower and more rigid wings, typically falcate and for its smoky black plumage with a white spot on the chin. It is a real flying machine: it only lands for nesting and never on the ground, because then it would not be able to take off. A long-range migratory species, it reaches the reproductive sites at the beginning of April and immediately begins to frequent the cavities, where however it will only lay at the beginning of May in the nest reused for several years (even 20), made up of plant material mixed with saliva. The nestlings are cared for for 40 days due to the need to reach the complete ability to fly when they leave the nest, which is not surprisingly located in an elevated position: in fact, due to their very short legs, the swifts are difficult to fly once they have landed on the ground. But what meat! Those who have tasted them remember them as a delight. The nestlings, those now ready to fledge, which were taken from the nests around the beginning of July, ended up in the pan. A barbaric custom in every sense, it seems that the Lombards introduced it, indisputably brutal and today absolutely forbidden. However, it is very understandable from the perspective of a poor economy, where animal proteins, especially if produced without human effort, were extremely precious. Throughout the Tuscan – Emilian – Romagna Apennines, with irregular distribution and concentrated in a few points, there are rondonaie towers. They were mainly used to make swifts nest, but the hospitality granted by man was of interest: the nestlings ended up in the pan. But even in rural homes on the upper floors, usually in the attic which was almost always used as a warehouse or emergency shelter, numerous holes were prepared for the purpose of feeding the nesting of swifts. The openings are small circular holes that lead, through terracotta pipes, into a compartment.

The holes are of a size calculated to let the swifts in, hindering the entry of other birds such as predators which, being larger, cannot pass, or small birds which struggle to pass through the pipe. They thus reproduce the conditions in which the swift nests in nature. Narrow and deep cracks in the rock walls. The nesting compartment is always accessible from inside the tower or attic via a removable wooden door. It was from this hole that at the end of July, when the nestling had reached adult size, the rapacious hand of man penetrated to capture it. There are those who maintain that the practice dates back to the Middle Ages, those to the Renaissance and those who maintain that the concept is much older. Perhaps Lombard or earlier, perhaps it arrived in Italy around the year one thousand from the East, where already in the 9th century it was customary to hang wooden boxes along the walls of the tallest buildings to attract swifts. I agree that proteins were at no cost but with a swift you eat little, however in the larger swiftlets it was possible to have dozens of nests in close rows. In colonies of this size, considering that a swift raises two or three young, it was easy to obtain a considerable number of “preys”. But how could the swift accept such malevolent help from man every year? Apparently there wasn’t a minimum of foresight, the owners of the swifts took everything, down to the last little one. Why did the swifts always come back and the population didn’t die out? Probably because the doors were only opened at the last moment before fledging, when the chicks were as big as possible and some of them managed to escape. Some swallows still exist but the swallows no longer end up in the pan and not just because the law prohibits it. Many owners dedicate loving care to their swallows, keeping them in perfect order. Swifts don’t litter, they don’t disturb, on the contrary they keep you company.

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