Bird glue

Bird catcher with liming rod (15th century)

Bird glue is a very tough and sticky mass that is used to make liming rods when catching birds .

history

Already in Roman times , bird catchers coated rods with a greenish-yellow sticky liquid obtained from the ripe berries of mistletoe ( Viscum spp. ). Like the plant, the glue was called viscum in Latin ( metonymy : the raw material stands for what is produced from it).

To make the glue even more sticky and to protect it from drying out, thickened pear and plum juice and honey were added. The glue was spread on birch boxes that were stuck on a stick hammered into the ground. A cage with a decoy was placed next to this stick . Crossbills and other finch birds were preferred to catch for entertainment in winter, as these birds sing beautifully . In winter, liming rods placed on bushes were used to create thrushesre-enacted for consumption. This was practiced across Europe until the 19th century.

In the western part of the Duchy of Saxony-Altenburg this glue was also called Altenburger glue . Because of its color, the term green bird glue was also used . The whole mistletoe plant or the inner bark of the holly was sometimes used for its production . For reasons of durability or as an extender , turpentine was sometimes added .

In addition, there were brown bird-lime , an excessive varnish thickened mass of linseed oil , as well as Oriental lime ( Viscum damascenum ) consisting of the fruit of the oak mistletoe ( loranthus europaeus ) or Kordienart ( Cordia sebestena was made).

In Japan , the bark of the mochi tree ( Ilex integra ) was used to make bird glue .

Since 1979, bird trapping has been prohibited in principle in the European Union according to the Birds Directive . Limestone rods (now often with synthetic glue) were still used as bird traps in southern France, northern Italy, Cyprus and Catalonia, contrary to EU regulations, sometimes with special permits for traditional hunting methods or official tolerance. In most areas of France (August 2020), Italy and Cyprus, the use of liming has been made illegal. The highest French administrative court in Paris, the Conseil d'État , confirmed a judgment of the European Court of Justice from March 2021 on June 28 , 2021 and issued a ban on glue catching in the five departments ( Alpes-de-Haute-Provence , Alpes-Maritimes , Bouches-du-Rhône , Var and Vaucluse ), where the practice was still permitted with a derogation. The fact that this hunt is "a traditional method is not enough to warrant an exception".

miscellaneous

During the Second World War , British anti-tank hand grenades of the type HGR No. 74 , so-called sticky bombs , coated with bird glue. Thrown at a tank from a distance, they should stick to it.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Karl Ernst Georges : Comprehensive Latin-German concise dictionary . 8th, improved and increased edition. Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hanover 1918 ( zeno.org [accessed June 29, 2021]).
2. ^ Altenburger glue . In: Universal encyclopedia of the present and the past . 4., reworked. and greatly increased edition, Volume 1:  A – Aufzwingen , self-published, Altenburg 1857, p.  361 .
3. ↑ ^{a b} bird glue . In: Universal encyclopedia of the present and the past . 4., reworked. and greatly increased edition, Volume 18:  Türkisches Reich – Wechsler , self-published, Altenburg 1864, pp.  643–644 .
4. ↑ The production of bird glue. :  "Rundschau" for the interests of pharmacy, chemistry and related subjects. Subscription supplement of the "Pharm (aceutisch) -chem (isch) Allgemeine Geschäftsblatt" / Rundschau for the interests of pharmacy, chemistry (, hygiene) and related subjects. (Subscription supplement of the "(International) Pharmac (eutisch) -chem (isch) Allgemeine Geschäftsblattes “) / (Pharmaceutische) Rundschau. Weekly for the interests of pharmacy, chemistry, hygiene and related subjects , year 1878, p. 8 (online at ANNO ).
5. ↑ Protection des oiseaux: la chasse à la glu jugée définitivement illégale en France , Liberation, June 28, 2021.