Birding Italy
Join Ed Hutchings as he reveals the birding delights found in two of Italy’s most beautiful regions, Tuscany and Umbria, neighbours with very different characters, and birds, to discover
What to expect from a birdwatching trip to the lovely regions of Tuscany and Umbria
The tourist brochure view of Tuscany as an idyll of olive groves, vineyards, hill towns and frescoed churches may be one dimensional, but Tuscany is indeed the essence of Italy in many ways. It is rightly renowned for its wine, but many are unaware that it is a brilliant region for birding, too, and has no fewer than 16 Important Bird Areas (IBAS) among its beautiful scenery. Sharing a border with Emiliaromagna in the north of the region, the large, mountainous area in the northern Apennines from Passo del Cerreto to Monte Caligi is worth exploring. It includes broadleaved (mainly Beech) and coniferous woodlands, alpine grasslands and rocky areas, crossed by rivers and streams. The area is important for breeding
species of forest and mountain including Nightjar, Tawny Owl, Honey Buzzard, Golden Eagle, Green Woodpecker, Blue Tit and Rock Thrush. The most paramount threat is the abandonment of traditional cultivation and cattle rearing activities, with consequent loss of pastures and grasslands. A National Park is proposed in the area. To the south-west lie the Apuan Alps, east of the towns of Massa and Carrara, particularly rich in rocky areas and alpine grasslands. The main land uses are grazing, nature conservation and marble extraction. Key species include Golden Eagle and Chough and it is a significant breeding site for montane passerines such as Rock Thrush and Tawny Pipit. Further south lies the shallow Lake Massaciuccoli, close to the town of Viareggio, 2.5 miles from the Tyrrhenian coast. The lake is surrounded by a belt of reeds, and there is a large freshwater marshland (padule) adjacent to the lake on the north side, consisting of stands of sedge, with scattered pools and canals. The surrounding areas are intensively farmed, but it is a vital breeding site for reedbed species, notably Bittern (the most important breeding location in Italy) and was once a key staging spot for the critically endangered Slender-billed
Curlew. Formerly, it was paramount for wintering water birds, especially Coot (tens of thousands), whose decline was due specially to hunting and a reduction in the extent of submerged vegetation. Other key species to look for include Little Bittern, Bittern, Purple Heron, Black Tern, Marsh Harrier and Moustached, Reed and Savi’s Warblers. A few Ferruginous Ducks winter. The chief threat is the intensification of agriculture in the surrounding area, which is leading to water pollution, lowering of the water table and shrinkage of wetlands. There is a LIPU (a conservation association) reserve on the east side of the lake. Immediately to the south of the lake and east of the city of Pisa, the wetland complex of Migliarino-san Rossore comprises open (San Rossore) and wooded (San Rossore and Migliarino) coastal marshes, the estuaries of two large rivers (Arno and Serchio) and a tract of very shallow sea offshore. There are dunes between the marshes and the sea and extensive arable/pasture areas at San Rossore. This is a significant wetland for migrating and wintering waders, including Jack Snipe. Inland to the east, the freshwater wetland of Fucecchio Marsh, a few miles south of the town of Montecatini, consists of reedbeds, open water, wet woodland (Bosco di Chiusi) and surrounding cultivation. This is a vital wetland for breeding herons, such as Little Egret, Little Bittern, Night and Squacco Herons, and reedbed passerines, such as Moustached and Savi’s Warblers.
Significant breeding site
Continuing eastward brings one to a complex of small freshwater pools, wetlands, abandoned pits and farmland on a plain west of Florence used primarily as game reserves, though farming is the most important human activity away from the pools. It is especially paramount for its Night Heron colony, though Ferruginous Duck is also found on passage. Further east, and sharing a border with Umbria (more on page 82), the Casentinesi Forest National Park is a large tract of broadleaved and coniferous forest in the northern Apennines, dominated by Beech and fir. The predominant land use is forestry, but it is a significant breeding site for woodland species, such as Nightjar, Tawny Owl, Green Woodpecker, Blue Tit, Wood Lark, Subalpine Warbler, Song Thrush, Robin, Firecrest and Rock Bunting. To the south, the Arezzo Heathlands, a hilly area predominately covered by heathland, can be divided into three subsites: Alpe di Poti, Monte Ginezzo and Pian di Scò. The foremost land uses are forestry, hunting and heath cutting. This is a vital heathland for breeding raptors, such as Montagu’s Harrier, and passerines, especially Sylvia warblers, such as Subalpine and Dartford. Further south, on the Umbrian border, the two freshwater lakes of Chiusi and Montepulciano are found nine miles east of the village of Montepulciano. Water levels fluctuate greatly during the year. It is an important area for breeding Little Bittern, wintering Cormorant and for a mixed heronry at Lago di Chiusi that includes Squacco and Night Herons. Herons and Cormorants roost at Vasche di Dolciano. A couple of pairs of Ferruginous Duck breed annually and a handful winter, too. Moustached Warbler is resident. To the west, the Crete Senesi is a hilly area south-east of the town of Siena. There are large tracts of farmland, small woodlands, gorges and highly eroded slopes. The major threat is agricultural intensification, which destroys the eroded landforms that are paramount nest sites for breeding raptors, such as Lanner Falcon. It is also a significant spot for Stone-curlew. Further west, the middle valley of the River Cecina lies six miles south of the town of Volterra and comprises a large broadleaved evergreen woodland, called Berignone, and a stretch of the River Cecina. The valley is notable for its breeding raptors and woodland passerines such as Subalpine Warbler. Ever further west and back on the Tyrrhenian coast, the Bolgheri Marsh and Tombolo is a wetland about six miles south of the village of Cecina. Habitats include beaches and dunes, macchia, wet woodlands and grasslands, and open water, surrounded by farmland. The wetland is notable for breeding and
The freshwater wetland of fucecchio Marsh, a few Miles south of The Town of Montecatini, consists of reedbeds, open water and wet woodland
wintering water birds, as well as migrating waders such as Golden Plover. A few Ferruginous Duck overwinter. Offshore, the Tuscan Archipelago – seven small islands between Tuscany and Corsica (Montecristo, Giannutri, Gorgona, Capraia, Elba, Giglio and Pianosa) – is chiefly covered by macchia, garrigue, sclerophyllous scrub, pine woodlands and rocky cliffs. Some have evergreen woodlands, grasslands and agricultural land. The islands support breeding Cory’s and Yelkouan Shearwaters, Audouin’s and Caspian Gulls, as well as Shag. Other key species include Peregrine, Marmora’s, Subalpine, Sardinian, Spectacled and Dartford Warblers, Blue Rock Thrush and Black-eared Wheatear. The fundamental threats are the disturbance of breeding seabirds by tourists, especially using motorboats, the development of tourist resorts and associated infrastructure and the burning of vegetation. To the south, the large wetland of Diaccia Botrona on the coast, close to the village of Castglione della Pescaia, was formerly freshwater but is now brackish due to seawater inflow. Further south, the Maremma Regional Park comprises the wooded Uccellina Mountains, mostly covered by pines and macchia, as well as the large brackish Trappola Marsh with very little vegetation, mainly Salicornia, and the mouth of the River Ombrone, a few miles south of the town of Grosseto. Tuscany could provide a renaissance in Italian birding, and the landscapes are simply exquisite.