Ortolan Bunting
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| Emberiza hortulana Linnaeus, 1758 |
The Ortolan, or Ortolan Bunting, Emberiza hortulana, is a bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a passerine family now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. The bird's common name is French, from the Latin hortulanus, the gardener bird, (from hortus, a garden).
A native of most European countries and western Asia the Ortolan migrates in autumn to tropical Africa, returning at the end of April or beginning of May. Its distribution throughout its breeding-range seems to be very local, and for this no obvious reason can be assigned. It was said in France to prefer wine-growing districts; but it certainly does not feed upon grapes, and is found equally in countries where vineyards are unknown. It reaches as far north as Scandinavia and beyond the Arctic Circle, frequenting corn-fields and their neighbourhoods.
It is an uncommon vagrant in spring and particularly autumn to the British Isles.
The Ortolan is 16 cm in length and weighs 20 to 25 grams. In appearance and habits it much resembles its congener the Yellowhammer, but lacks the bright colouring of that species; the Ortolan's head, for instance, is greenish-grey, instead of a bright yellow. The somewhat monotonous song of the cock resembles that of the Yellowhammer.
Ortolan nests are placed on or near the ground; the eggs seldom show the hair-like markings so characteristic of most buntings' eggs.
Seeds are the natural diet, but beetles and other insects are eaten when feeding young.
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[edit] Conservation
The species is in decline in at least ten European countries, although the total population is estimated in 400,000-600,000 pairs.
In France it disappeared from 17 départements between 1960 and 1980, and numbers have fallen in another seven départements. The 1992 estimation for the French population is 15,000 pairs.
The reasons proposed for this strong regression are habitat degradation, reduction of nesting places, and changes in the agricultural landscape. Hunting (in particular in Landes) is responsible for taking about 50,000 birds per year (ten times the Ortolan population of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands).
It is a protected species in Europe and its sale is illegal in France, but Gascons still catch it by the end of summer to fatten it. This practice is politically sensitive and one of the reasons for the regional success of parties like that of Hunters and Fishers.
[edit] Gastronomy
For centuries, a rite of passage for French gourmets has been the eating of the Ortolan. These tiny birds—captured alive, force-fed, then drowned in Armagnac—were roasted whole and eaten that way, bones and all, while the diner draped his head with a linen napkin to preserve the precious aromas and, some believe, to hide from God.
– The Wine Spectator
A description of eating an ortolan [1]:
You catch the ortolan with a net spread up in the forest canopy. Take it alive. Take it home. Poke out its eyes and put it in a small cage. Force-feed it oats and millet and figs until it has swollen to four times its normal size. Drown it in brandy. Roast it whole, in an oven at high heat, for six to eight minutes. Bring it to the table. Place a cloth—a napkin will do—over your head to hide your cruelty from the sight of God. Put the whole bird into your mouth, with only the beak protruding from your lips. Bite. Put the beak on your plate and begin chewing, gently. You will taste three things: First, the sweetness of the flesh and fat. This is God. Then, the bitterness of the guts will begin to overwhelm you. This is the suffering of Jesus. Finally, as your teeth break the small, delicate bones and they begin to lacerate your gums, you will taste the salt of your own blood, mingling with the richness of the fat and the bitterness of the organs. This is the Holy Spirit, the mystery of the Trinity—three united as one. It is cruel. And beautiful. According to Claude Souvenir, chewing the ortolan takes approximately 15 minutes.
Ortolans used to be netted in great numbers, kept alive in an artificially lighted, or darkened room to disrupt their feeding schedule, and fed with oats and millet. In a very short time they became enormously fat and were then killed for the table. If, as is supposed, the ortolan be the miliaria of Varro, the practice of artificially fattening birds of this species is very ancient.
In French the word ortolan is used so as to be almost synonymous with the English bunting; thus, the ortolan-de-neige is the Snow Bunting (Plectrophanes nivalis), the ortolan-de-riz is the rice-bird or Bobolink of North America (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), so justly celebrated for its delicious flavour. But the name is also applied to other birds much more distantly related, for the ortolan of some of the Antilles, where French is spoken, is a little ground dove of the genus Chamaepelia.
In Europe the beccafico (fig-eater) shared with the ortolan the highest honours of the dish, and this may be a convenient place to point out that the former is a name of equally elastic signification. The true beccafico is said to be what is known in England as the Garden Warbler (the Motacilla salicaria of Linnaeus, the Sylvia borin of modern writers); but in Italy any soft-billed small bird that could be snared or netted in its autumnal emigration passed under the name in the markets and cook-shops.
The beccafico, however, is not as a rule artificially fattened, and on this account was preferred by some sensitive tastes to the ortolan.
One way French diners ate ortolans was to cover their heads and face with a large napkin for the gourmand's aesthetic desire to absorb the maximum odour with the flavor. This famous use of the towel was launched by a priest, a friend of Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin.
François Mitterrand's last meal was said to consist of ortolan.
It is eaten in the 1958 musical Gigi.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Emberiza hortulana. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
