There are ten woodcocks marked with GPS / GSM transmitter in December 2021 which to date have sent signals of the start of the pre-nuptial migration, which will take them from various Italian wintering locations to breeding sites. For some subjects, for which longer transmission intervals have been chosen, it is waiting in next days of the location signal, most likely in transit areas to nesting sites. The research project carried out in collaboration between University of Milan, Italian Federation of Hunting e Friends of Scolopax this year it has moved its business south with the marking of some individuals in Sicily, partly in areas of the island and others in Pantelleria.
The other woodcock marking areas were Liguria, Molise, Puglia, Sardinia and Campania. Unfortunately, some subjects were lost, however predation and killing during the hunting season, but the transmitter of several individuals was recovered, which will now be available for activities in December 2022. Woodcocks are currently found in various Eastern European countries, such as Serbia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine and the Czech Republic. For two individuals, one winter visitor in Liguria and one in Sardinia it is the second year of migration monitoring, having been marked in December 2020. Both subjects returned to winter in the same locations of the previous year.
The project is now in its third year after the agreement signed with the University of Milan and is enabling the collection of important data both for migratory phenology, both for the identification of the reproductive areas of woodcocks that affect Italy in wintering, and which are therefore the object of hunting in our country. The project activities were carried out thanks to funds from the Amici di Scolopax Association, from Federcaccia, which contributed with its own funds to the purchase of the transmitters, both as a national and thanks to the regional sections of Sicily and Liguria, and also with the contribution of the UCIM sector.
We thank the ATC Campobasso, Termoli and Isernia for Molise, the ATC Foggia and Lecce for Puglia and the ATC Genova 1 for Liguria, who contributed to the scientific study in progress. The project continues and the collaboration with Alessandro Tedeschi proves to be successful in obtaining the best possible results for knowledge of the species and its management. Attached are some maps showing the movements of some individuals in March and early April. In the coming weeks we will be giving updates on the movements (Faunistic and Agri-environmental Studies and Research Office Federcaccia - Amici di Scolopax).
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