Italy

The Bird Conservation Fund successfully raised $2,550 to support EBN Italia, Gruppo Tutela Rapaci Altura and Associazione Mediterranea per la Natura sustain grass-roots monitoring of nesting Lanner Falcons in Tuscany and Sicily in 2021. We received a report by EBN Italia and have pasted it below.

Lanner Falcons are a fairly large falcon of open country with scattered trees that nests in rocky gorges or on rocky outcrops. While widely distributed, the northern subspecies that occurs on the Italian peninsula from Tuscany south is considered endangered in Europe.

Estimated breeding pairs in Italy have declined from 140-170 in 2007 to between 45-70 in 2019, the numbers in Tuscany are even more dire as breeding was only documented at 6-8 sites in three years of surveys (2014-2016) and only 1.04 chicks were fledged per breeding pair.

Lanners have been prized by falconers, the removal of chicks has been documented and has contributed to their decline in Tuscany. With perhaps only 2-4 nests in Tuscany, any disturbance at the nest site from photographers seeking to capture prize shots or other human disturbances can case a nest failure. There is also evidence that the successful resurgence of Peregrine Falcons may be putting pressure on Lanner Falcon.

A number of organizations have come together to mobilize volunteer nest guardians in recent years in order to protect nests and chicks during the breeding season.

Report from EBN Italia (November 2021)

Interesting news from the monitoring of Lanner falcon in central Italy carried out within the Gruppo Tutela Rapaci (GTR) in Tuscany. At the beginning of the breeding season, the work was initiated under the Covid travel restrictions. As a result, GTR decided to change its strategy and buy some cameras to remotely monitor the few remaining pairs of Lanner. The remote installation distant from the nests avoided any form of disturbance. Part of the BCF grant was used to buy this remote device in Tuscany. The presence of the cameras combined with the visits of the volunteers made it possible to cover the entire period of reproduction, from the laying, the fledging and the subsequent period up to the dispersion of the new born. The working group has activated other site-specific conservation actions. It was particularly gratifying that the pair in Siena Province fledged 3 young in 2021 after having failed in the past five years.

Unfortunately, the other 3 couples for whom surveillance activities were carried out in 2021 went very badly. In February, GTR volunteers discovered a female Lanner with a wounded wing near her nest and sent her to the LIPU Recovery Center, where unfortunately it has been ascertained that it will no longer be able to fly. This is a serious loss as she is part of a pair that fledged 4 chicks in 2020. Probably a similar fate happened to one of the two adults of the second pair who in 2020 had fled another 4 chicks, in fact already in December only one adult had remained in charge of the wall.

In both cases no recruitment of a new mate occurred, and in both cases immature individuals were observed together with the adults who remained on the nesting wall, a small hope for the future!

The fourth pair, which unfortunately had settled in an area with a very high density of Wood Pigeon hunters and with a total absence of controls by the police, was not seen during breeding season but showed up in September again.

In addition to the surveillance of known nests, searches for new nests began in 2021, which unfortunately did not lead to any new discoveries; the observation of 3 individuals (one adult and two immature ones, in 3 highly suitable areas, keep the last hopes alive).

The activity was possible thanks to the contribution of EBN Italia, Lipu, Man and the participation of Stiftung Pro Artenvielfalt, Cabs and Altura. Thanks to the contribution of the Americans from the Bird Conservation Fund, monitoring was extended to all of Central Italy, with a new pair found in the Apennines which successfully bred.