The provinces of Perugia and Terni, as part of a joint initiative, have promoted a census of the Chaffinch species (Fringilla coelebs) and other migratory species with fixed stalking methods.
The census will take place in eight pre-established days and will be carried out through stations coinciding with fixed stalking, which amount to about 1.600 in the territory of the Province of Perugia and about 1.100 in the territory of the Province of Terni, with the collaboration of the owners of the stalking themselves equipped with the card of census.
The Province has sent to the holders of the fixed postings, to the presidents of the two ATCs of the provincial territory of Perugia and to the hunting associations, the appropriate census forms, also asking for the collaboration of the latter subjects for the collection of the cards and the transmission of data. to the Province.
The days set for data collection are eight in total and in particular Saturday 22, Sunday 23, Saturday 29, Sunday 30 October 2011 as well as Saturday 5, Sunday 6, Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 November 2011.
The census will take place by counting the sighted heads for a duration of 30 minutes a day at the choice of the observer / hunter who will have to precisely transcribe on the card, the start time and the end time of the survey, the number of finches sighted as well as that of the other species indicated in the cards possibly observed; the same forms must be sent to the Wildlife Management and Environmental Protection Service, through the ATCs or the Hunting Associations.
The survey is aimed at determining, with an appropriate statistical analysis of the data collected, the various species of birds actually present in our territory in the period in which any exceptions could be applied.
In particular, the insights that emerged during the recent meeting on exceptions held in Spello (PG) as part of the event "Weidmanns'heil 2011", have provided the guidelines to be able to determine the possible "small quantity" for the withdrawal in derogation of the species in question as required by art. 9, paragraph 1 letter c) of Directive 2009/147 / EC.
Il Finch belongs to the Fringillidi family, in the order of passerines, and is found in great abundance throughout the Italian peninsula both for the presence of sedentary populations and for the stopover of numerous specimens during migratory movements in the months of September, November, February and April. In Umbria the Chaffinch is present all year round, it is ascertained that it nests in the region and is distributed throughout the region both in the plains and at altitudes up to about 1600 m.
With the ban on hunting this species, the populations have been strongly increased; between 2001 and 2005 it was observed that while the regional breeding population remained stable, that in step for wintering is growing slightly, often to the detriment of species falling into the same ecological niche such as the Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris) whose population on the contrary, it suffered an inexplicable decline.