Italy is a beautiful country with a wonderful cultural history - it is not a nation of bandits and barbarians.

There are, however, problems for birds and this page aims to explain some of those problems...

European Migration

Many of the birds of Europe migrate in the Spring and Autumn in generally North/South movements; large numbers spend the winter in Africa and fly north to Europe for the breeding season. When they reach the Mediterranean sea they use one of three flyways:
  • West : Across the Straits of Gibraltar from Morocco to the Iberian peninsula.
  • Central: From North Africa to Sicily then across the Straits of Messina to the toe of Italy then north into Europe.
  • East : Skirting the sea to the east, flying through Israel and later crossing the Bosphorus.

The Central Flyway in the Spring

Thousands of birds of prey (among many more thousands of other birds) wait for the best weather conditions before setting out on the long sea crossing and they reach Sicily before continuing north to Calabria, the toe of Italy. Reaching Messina in Sicily tired, they have to cross the straits and are often low as they coast in.

The reception committee is waiting in the fields and on the roof tops and what happens next is well described by the following account by a volunteer who joined the Anti Poaching Camp not long ago...
"Day 3 (pm): Went to Catona, a suburb of Reggio Calabria, renowned for its high density of poachers and Mafia activities. I had spent three wonderful days, thrilling at the passing raptors, hearing few shots and feeling rather optimistic. Four of us stood in a lay-by, watching the sun set behind Sicily and counting 22 Honey Buzzards flying low and slow towards us. I had been briefed - "There will be shooting; count and identify the birds and count the shots." I was watching one bird through binoculars as the shooting suddenly started. Ten, twenty, a hundred shots pierced the air all around us. "My" bird just kept on flying until it was hit and dropped like a stone. Others fell around it and I felt desolation and unspeakable anger amidst this deafening, relentless nightmare. After seven long minutes we counted just 5 surviving birds rising up the ridge behind Catona..."

This illegal killing contravenes both European and domestic Italian law and is explained in an attempt at justification by a Calabrian saying that if a man fails to kill a Honey Buzzard in the Spring he will have no success with the ladies for the next year...
There are now fewer hunters in Italy than there were ten years ago but the carnage has not stopped. I visited Sala Baganza Raptor Rescue Centre near Parma where dedicated staff were treating wounded birds in order to release them again into the wild. I was shown a Golden Eagle, a number of owls and this female Hobby - all recovering from gunshot wounds. As I left I passed two people carrying a cardboard box containing yet another victim of the hunter's indiscriminate shooting...

LIPU works to reduce the slaughter and operates Raptor Rescue Centres for the sake of the wounded survivors.

LIPU-UK works to raise awareness and funds to support LIPU projects and all new members are welcome. Please join us either as a member or as a friend - the first step is to e-mail me, I'll be happy to tell you more about LIPU and how you can help the cause of birds in, over and passing through Italy.