Authoritative publication
On 16 December 2023, the article relating to the Cesena project of Federcaccia Lombardia entitled “Non-breeding ranging behaviour, habitat use and prebreeding migratory movements of Fieldfares (Turdus pilaris) wintering in southern Europe”, i.e. “Behaviours linked to movements in the non-reproductive period, use of the habitat and pre-breeding migratory movements reproduction of fieldfares (Turdus pilaris) wintering in southern Europe" by the Authors McKinlay S.E., Morganti M., Mazzoleni A., Labate A., Sorrenti M., & Rubolini D.
The primary objective of the study
The study was carried out by Prof. Diego Rubolini's team and had the primary objective of determining the phenology of the pre-nuptial migration and the reproductive places of the wintering fieldfares in Lombardy, with a clear impact on the political choices for the closing date of the hunting season . Understanding the spatio-temporal distribution of migratory species is critical to developing a flyway-based management strategy. For this research, miniaturized GPS-Argos transmitters were used to analyze the movement patterns, habitat use, home ranges and pre-reproductive migratory dynamics of the Cesena species (Turdus pilaris). The wintering population in northern Italy was the object of study, in particular 11 capture plants were activated in various territories of Lombardy.
Equipped individuals
Most individuals did not undertake large movements once they reached the wintering area, with the exception of some post-reproductive migratory movements which continued until the beginning of winter. Woods and agricultural land were the most used habitats throughout the wintering period. Regarding prenuptial migration, partial information was obtained from 16 individuals. For this study, 75 individuals were equipped with GPS-Argos transmitters during the autumn-winter from 2016 to 2020. The data transmitted by the tags with which the fieldfares were equipped transmitted very precise information: the individuals were still in the wintering sites on February 9th, and the first data transmitted by a migrating individual dates back to March 6th (the average of departure dates is March 21st). Six birds migrated to the north-west of Russia, while one reached Finland.
Presence and behavior of the species
This pioneering research has served to deepen knowledge on the phenology of the pre-nuptial migration of Cesena. This was the first study with satellite radio telemetry on this species, and a clear influence of climate on the presence and behavior of the species was observed. Our unpublished study challenges the view based on previous ringed bird recovery evidence that Italian wintering populations largely come from Scandinavia and data that fieldfare migration begins in the second decade of January. Publishing a study in a scientific journal certifies its value and accredits it in the academic and scientific world. We must continue on this path, demonstrating that the experience of hunters can be supported by scientific data, data that allows an increasingly attentive and prepared management to confront the institutions with strong arguments, based on numbers, to protect hunting and hunters (source: FIDC Lombardy).