Season's birds of song

For a bird watcher, "The 12 Days of Christmas" could be a gift list or a wish list. The song is mostly about birds, after all.

Two doves, three hens, seven swans. But, birders may wonder, what kind of doves, hens and swans?

The research into those answers was done several years ago by -- who else? -- an ornithologist, Jeff Price, and his wife, Amy, who shared what they learned.

The song, believed to originate in France in the 17th century, lists gifts given on the days between Christmas and Epiphany. The tune moved high on the Holiday Top 40 when it crossed the channel to England.

The birds that fly out of the melody would be European species, but they have North American equivalents.

The first day, a native British partridge, the gray partridge, is the loner in the fruit tree. Gray partridges have been introduced here for hunting. A better substitution would be a sharp-tailed or ruffed grouse.

European turtledoves are probably the pair of doves given on Day Two. Our substitute could be the non-native Eurasian collared dove, or our native mourning doves.

They weren't originally "four calling birds," which is how we hear it now. They were "colly" birds, colly referring to soot or coal black. The Prices think that the colly birds might have referred to the European blackbird (which is really a thrush, related to our robin). We can substitute red-winged blackbirds.

As we sing the song today, the fifth day of Christmas brings five golden rings. The Prices believe that the original lyrics used the term "gulderers." Gulderer is Scottish for a turkey or perhaps a guinea fowl. You'll need to nab wild turkeys for this gift, perhaps right out of your back yard.

Six geese a-laying is likely to refer to the greylag goose of Europe, an ancestor to many of our domestic goose breeds. Our equivalent would be the greater white-fronted goose.

The swans, seven a-swimming, most likely are mute swans. These birds were common on large English estates, where an elaborate celebration as described in the song might have been held. Mute swans are non-native here, introduced as decorative and regarded by conservation departments as pests. Our native trumpeter swan is what you want to wrap up.

You wouldn't eat your gift birds. The idea is the birds lay eggs for you to cook for guests. (Swan eggs take more than 3 minutes to boil.)

Which species is on my holiday list this year? Chocolate.

Lifelong birder Jim Williams can be reached at woodduck38@gmail.com. Join his conversation about birds at www.startribune.com/wingnut.