We are studying the movements of Black kites breeding in Italy to identify migratory flyways, stopover and wintering sites as well as intra-specific interactions.
We use GPS-GSM recording one fix every ten minutes. Up to now we tagged juveniles from the breeding population of Cental Italy.
We would like to establish a permanent bird Observatory on the Strait of Messina to run long term observation and monitoring of migrating birds.
The Observatory watchsites are located on the continental side of the Strait of Messina, on the Aspromonte highland (contrada S. Pietro, Solano, and Mount San Angelo). The fact that bird migration occurs both in spring and autumn and covers at least six months per year makes this site particularly suitable for an ornithological observatory.
So far there are no structures specifically dedicated to the observation activities. Birdwatchers, professional ornithologists, scientists and passionate people rely on the housing facilities of the nearby village of Gambarie (1’300 m asl) and commute every day to the observation points. In spring the field season starts around March 15, when the first marsh harriers arrive and ends at the end of May. The observers spend the whole day outdoor, 1000 m asl, where sometimes is cold and windy or very sunny and hot.
It is ongoing as a collaboration between Ornis italica (Ornis italica) and MEDRAPTORS.
In 2004 LIPU/BirdLife started the “Migrating Raptors Project” that is still going on. MEDRAPTORS collaborated coordinating the observations at the Strait of Messina and in the islands of Marettimo, Panarea and Ustica. We participated at the project through data analysis and papers writing. As one of the main result, the data collected showed that migrating Honey Buzzards crossing the central Mediterranean during spring can change their routes using tailwinds to perform long sea-crossings.