Pääsukese (Pääsuke[ne])
Swallow, martin. The bird’s ‘original’ name may well have been just pääsu to which an initial diminutive made it pääsuke and a second pääsukene (we await the third.) An odd one, this... Given Estonia’s history of invasion, colonization and occupation, the country has had to struggle to maintain its language, to say the least, but here, as with its lesser variant Väike-Pääsukese, the opposite seems to be happening. Located at the business end of town, near banks and other boomtown beasts, its unpalatable name brought shame to the game of trying to pronounce it and has been effectively wiped off the business record – not a single street-sign to be found –– in favor of its neighbor Maakri. Not one street-sign to be found, and local business addresses are Maakri. Be that as it may, the name comes from Schwalbegasse after 19th‑C property-owner and cabman, Carl Schwalbe. Schwalbe (Ger.) = pääsuke (Est.) = swallow (Eng.). Breeding in Estonia include:
- Kaldapääsuke, sand martin, Riparia riparia
- Piirpääsuke aka piiritaja, common swift, Apus apus
- Roostepääsuke, red-rumped swallow, Hirundo daurica
- Räästapääsuke, house martin, Delichon urbicum
- and last but certainly not least Suitsupääsuke, barn swallow, H. rustica
The last one is Estonia’s national bird which, shockingly, given the barrel scraped to fill out the Lilleküla bird-name group, does not even have a street named after it! But see Suitsupääsuse.
