The clouds of birds
Hunting has been authorized by derogation against starlings which each eat up to 20 grams of olives per day. Puglia, in the olive grove areas of Bari and Brindisi and on the Gargano in the epicenter between San Giovanni Rotondo and Manfredonia, where the phenomenon of bird clouds has become daily and pressing. This was reported by Coldiretti Puglia, in relation to the resolution of the Regional Council which allows the derogation of the collection of starlings in the coastal olive grove plain between the provinces of Bari and Brindisi and in the foothills of the province of Foggia from 10 November 2024 to 19 January 2025, when the harvest campaign is underway and the olives are at risk of depredation by starlings.
The areas concerned
The taking by way of exception of the "starling" species (Sturnus vulgaris) is permitted - adds Coldiretti Puglia - in the area of the "coastal olive grove plain between the provinces of Bari and Brindisi", identified in the territories of the municipalities of Polignano a Mare, Castellana Grotte, Monopoli, Conversano, Alberobello, Locorotondo (Bari) and Fasano, Cisternino, Ostuni, Ceglie Messapica, Villa Castelli, Francavilla Fontana, San Michele Salentino, Latiano, Carovigno, San Vito dei Normanni, Mesagne, Oria and Brindisi (Brindisi), and in the area “Pedegargano strip of the province of Foggia”, identified in the territories of the municipalities of Manfredonia, San Giovanni Rotondo, San Marco in Lamis, Rignano Garganico, Apricena, Poggio Imperiale, Lesina, Sannicandro Garganico and Cagnano Varano (Foggia).
Olive sector
The olive growing sector in the provinces of Bari, Brindisi and the Gargano is particularly affected by the starlings and the damage is between 30 and over 60% - explains Coldiretti Puglia - borne by the olive trees. In addition to direct damage, indirect damage should not be underestimated. Starlings destroy the plots used for olive harvesting – insists Coldiretti Puglia – and olive growers are forced to fight a calamity without having the tools, condemned, almost, to reprogram their agricultural activity to avoid the destruction of production. Among other things, it is not only olive growing that is affected, given that the passage of flocks of starlings leaves such quantities of excrement on the vegetables as to make the product unpresentable on the market. Starlings have found nocturnal refreshment in protected areas, to resume their daytime feeding raids for months now, given that the anomalous heat of recent years has caused the protected species to convert from migratory to sedentary.
Alien species
The most serious and well-known case of the damage caused by wild boars to agriculture must not lead us to forget - maintains Coldiretti Puglia - that there are other problematic species, such as the domestic forms of wild species and the feral forms of domestic species. In this context, there are numerous damages caused by feral dogs to farms and those due, however, to the massive spread of feral pigeons which damage not only crops, but also agricultural products stored in silos, such as seeds and cereals. Another significant problem is, then, that of the control of some alien species - concludes Coldiretti Puglia - they have spread invasively, causing serious damage to aquaculture and agriculture, examples of which are the cormorant and the starling (source: Coldiretti).
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