The traditional Christmas song, ‘The Twelve Days Of Christmas’, is a festive ornithological treat, partridge, turtle dove, calling birds, French hens, geese and swans. That’s half of Christmas dominated by birds, and the modern version has lost some of its birds through the years.
The twelve days start on Christmas day and run through to the eve of the Epiphany on the 5th January, which was the end of the festive period, traditionally a time for merrymaking.
The song itself, first published in 1780, contains a variety of birds some well known, partridge and turtle dove, but others slightly less obvious. The modern ‘calling birds’ were originally ‘colly birds’ a name for blackbirds, relating to their ‘black as coal’ appearance. And French hens are thought to relate to any foreign hens rather than French hens specifically.
Older versions contained even more birds with a pretty peacock, replacing the partridge in an 1892 version of the song, there have also been ducks – a – laying, cocks – a – crowing and squabs – a – swimming. Other wildlife included bears – a - beating and hares – a – running, however, lords always seem to have been leaping.
There have been regional variations with Australian versions replacing the traditional birds with native Australian wildlife. The Scottish version included an array of exotic wildlife including parrots, plovers, starlings, grey geese, a bull and an Arabian baboon.
So what would a modern Welsh version look like?
Well on day one a partridge in a pear tree would not be an easy tick, grey partridge have declined in the UK by over 80% in the last 25 years, and with the decline in traditional orchards, finding one in a pear tree could take a lot longer than 12 days.
Day two is no easier, by December turtle doves are sunning themselves in their wintering grounds in West Africa. But even at the height of summer you would be lucky to find a turtle dove in Wales. Having declined by over 90% in the UK, and no longer found as a breeding bird in Wales, the iconic turtle dove is likely to be absent for more than just the twelve days of Christmas in coming years.
Day three is an easier tick, French or foreign hens can be found in farms and gardens across Wales.
How about day four, well four colly birds should be an easy tick, blackbirds are obvious at this time of year rooting around through the fallen leaves, and with recent population estimates showing an increase, and coming in at number 5 on the 2013 Big Garden Birdwatch in Wales, blackbirds are easily spotted.
The next ornithological gift would be six geese a laying. You would think geese would be easily found in Wales, with a number of species over wintering here, but one species in particular is becoming increasingly rare. The last remaining population of Greenland white fronted geese in Wales is found around the Dyfi Estuary, the population has declined from around 167 birds in the late 1990’s to only 55 birds in 2012. Numbers in 2013 are lower again so far and finding six Greenland white fronted geese may prove a difficult task in a few years.
So, day seven, and the final tick, ‘seven swans a swimming’. Several species of swan are found in Wales, the mute swan is familiar to everyone and the population is doing well, having recovered following the ban on lead fishing weights in 1987. Bewick and whooper swans over winter in the UK, and small numbers may be found in Wales; both species are specially protected due to their small and vulnerable populations, so finding seven of either species would be exciting.
Of the birds featured in the song mute swans and blackbirds are doing well and should be around for many years to come, but turtle doves are already lost as a breeding species in Wales. Many other species, including grey partridge, could also be lost to future generations as bird numbers in our countryside continue to decline.
But there are things we can do to ensure the birds mentioned in the song and many others are around for future generations to appreciate and enjoy. In the New Year the Welsh Government has plans to review Glastir, the agri-environment scheme that rewards farmers for carrying out work on their land to benefit wildlife. Glastir must provide a countryside where nature can flourish and species such as turtle dove can recover.
We can all have our say and tell the Welsh Government to ensure that Glastir delivers a countryside where the iconic wildlife, which is ingrained in our culture and heritage, can thrive. Click here to take action now.