THEhe scene is incredible. A herring gull is stationed in front of a fresh pasta shop in the center of Romea majestic seabird that weighs as much as a chicken. The owner comes out and hands him a couple of ravioli cooked with meat. «And if I give him the ones with vegetables, he spits them out» he tells the handful of amazed tourists, including the writer, who witness the scene.
It’s a sign of the times: the human population is growing, cities expand at the expense of natural habitats and birds adapt to coexist with uslooking for food among the bins and even going so far as to ask us for it. And if you were only used to blackbirds and sparrows, as well as pigeons, now the urban environment even offers exotic presences.
Birds in the city, what’s happening
The most emblematic is that of parakeet, the green budgie which can also be spotted in the Sempione Park in Milan, but which is also very present in clouds Genoa, Florence, Rome. On the other hand, Giò and Giulia also live in the Lombard metropolis, two peregrine falcons who have been nesting at 125 meters above sea level since 2014, on top of the Pirelli skyscraper. The two birds of prey, who form a permanent pair, can target their prey from above, for example pigeons, which are not lacking in the city. To understand that what is happening and how the balance of birdlife in the city is changingwe let ourselves be guided by Marco Dinetti, head of Urban Ecology of Italian Bird Protection League (Lipu).
A seagull in Rome, on the top of the Vittoriano. There are now many thousands of them in the city. (Getty Images)
«Italy is the country that boasts the planetary record of urban ornithological atlases (volumes that collect studies on the presence and distribution of birds in our cities, ed.)” begins Dinetti. «There are 71, relating to 47 cities, of which 34 are provincial capitals». Good news, because it allows us to have a precise picture. A trend that everyone can see isincrease in the last decade of magpies and hooded crowsin the past widespread in rural areas and now also in cities. Casual and cunning, they are omnivorous: they can eat fruit and cereals, but also lizards and small rodents, even waste and dead animals. «They belong to the same family as the crow, which is more widespread in Central Europe, and are extremely intelligent. In Japan, for example, some individuals have understood that if they throw walnuts on the asphalt in front of the traffic lights, cars will crush them and they can recover the kernel” comments Dinetti. «In our cities, the presence of the jay is also increasing, a colorful corvid with a black “whisker” on the sides of the beak whose habitat is the woods, but which is adapting to the urban context».
SOS sparrows
Magpies and crows are in the dock: since they proliferated in the city, sparrows, goldfinches and other small birds have decreased. «It is true that they can prey on the young or eggs of passerines, but this is not the main cause of their decline. The decline of sparrows is a global phenomenon: there is a study group at European level in which Lipu participates, which identified various motivations. First, there is less food available: although they are granivorous, they become insectivorous when they raise their young” explains the expert.
They also struggle to find seedsin our increasingly smaller flowerbeds and with English lawns, without wild herbs. Insects are also clearly decreasing: we see it from the windshields of our cars, which once were dirty with crushed insects after a trip, but no longer, also thanks to the use of pesticides in agriculture. Also electromagnetic pollution caused by mobile phone antennas it has a negative impact on passerines, which have plummeted in numbers in cities such as Milan and Rome.
Urbanized peaks and battlements
In addition to corvids, which other species are growing instead? «Some forest-type birds, which have adapted to the trees of urban parks and gardens. The wood pigeonwhich lived on the outskirts of cities about ten years ago, is now everywhere. The green woodpecker and the red woodpecker they are on the rise in Milan and Florence. Even the robins are growing, and the starlings are doing well. There are now even hoopoes in the city” adds Dinetti. The city is not the forest, but there are those who strive to survive in a new context. Blackbirds, magpies, wood pigeons, but also the common redstart use television antennas as perches.
The spotted woodpecker thrives in different habitats and also nests in urban parks. (Photo: Carlo Fietta)
Those who fare badly are the species that live near the urban edgesin agricultural or uncultivated environments, with shrubs and herbs. «Concretion and land consumption have reduced the habitat and food for birds such as the skylark, the greenfinch, the goldfinch, chaffinch, serinthe stone warbler and the stonechat, the latter similar to the robin”.
Birds in the city, who leaves and who stays
Ornithologists distinguish birds into migratory and sedentary. The former move towards warmer lands in winter, while the latter remain in the same area throughout the year. But beyond this description, the reality is more complicated. An interesting example is that of great tits and blue tits which can be seen all year round even in the city. «A great tit that we see in Milan in winter could come from northern Europe to spend the winter, while the “Milanese” ones have moved to Naples or North Africa, to return in spring, when the northern ones will leave» points out Dinetti.
The renovation problem
The most famous migrants are the swallows (Hirundinidae), a family that includes swallow, house martin and the rarer mountain swallow, rufous swallow and house martin (or riparian swallow). THE swifts they have similar habits, but belong to a different order. In addition to announcing spring, they are very useful birds because in one day they feed on a quantity of insects equal to 7-8 times their weight and they are greedy for flies and mosquitoeswhich they hunt in flight. «They are penalized by pesticide pollution, which reduces insects, but also by the effects of climate changes: violent rains and late cold have the same result on their food» points out Marco Dinetti.
Swifts are very useful birds because in one day they feed on a quantity of insects equal to 7-8 times their weight and are greedy for flies and mosquitoes. (Getty Images)
«Modern construction also creates difficulties for them. The renovations reduce the spaces on the facade, useful for house martins to nest. The swallows try to adapt: from the porches and stables of the past they aim for the garages. The swifts – there is a colony of the great swift in Milan in San Siro – do not perch on the ground and look for a place to nest in the roller shutter boxes, in the attics and holes of buildings. Swallows and house martins can be helped by placing an artificial nest suitable for them, placing a shelf under it to avoid droppings on the ground.”
A curiosity: the swifts have discovered that the counterweight of the cranes on construction sites is made of blocks with ravines, perfect as a space for the nest. But how do we explain the strange case of parakeetsnow widespread in many European cities? These parrots, originally from Africa and South America, certainly did not arrive in Europe by flying thousands of kilometers. «We brought them as pets. The escaped or released specimens gave rise to a free population» comments Dinetti. «There is a theme of competition with some migrants, such as the scops owl or the hoopoe. Like them, the ring-necked parakeet loves to stay in tree hollows. And when the migratory birds return, they find their nest occupied.”
Three tips for helping birds
1. Keep urban greenery as “wild” as possiblepublic and private: hedges and flowerbeds with spontaneous plants are a source of food. Let’s avoid continuous mowing and excessive pruning of trees.
2. Put artificial nests on buildings and tree houses.
3. Place markings on skyscrapers and houses with glass windows so that birds don’t fly into them. Millions die from this every year.
Source: lipu.it where to find more tips and information
The pigeon problem
In cities large and small their presence is massive. It creates protests and alarms. The solutions? They are not simple…
“They’re dirty. They fill the monuments with guano. They are a vehicle of diseases.” Pigeons have many detractors. Including farmers, who complain about raids on their fields by city pigeons. Yes, because from Piazza Duomo in Milan, for example, they can fly for a few dozen kilometers to hunt for food and then return. But the authorities’ attempts to thin out the population arouse the ire of animal rights activists. Last December, in Turin, there was a demonstration against the elimination of these birds through capture with trap cages and bloody killing.
Other methods? «Unfortunately, antifertilizers for controlling pigeon births are not very effective» observes Dinetti. «As for diseases, the alarms are excessive. Cases of salmonellosis transmitted by pigeons are very rare. If you touch them by accident, just wash your hands.”
It must be said, however, that these birds arrived in the city after they were domesticated, about 8 thousand years ago. After the Second World War, many escaped or were freed from abandoned dovecotes, giving rise to urban populations. Now, to manage them well, an integrated strategy with a plurality of actions would be needed, in search of better coexistence in urban realities…
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