Alessandro Andreotti

Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) | ISPRA · Department of Wildlife

Background Understanding which intrinsic and extrinsic factors dictate decision-making processes such as leaving the natal area or not (migratory vs resident strategy), departure time, and non-breeding destination are key-issues in movement ecology. This is particularly relevant for a partially migratory meta-population in which only some individua...

Background The study of the timing of migration is fundamental to the understanding of the ecology of many bird species and their response to climate change, and it has important conservation and management implications e.g., for assessing the hunting seasons according to the EU Directive 2009/147/EC (Birds Directive). Methods We developed a new m...

The identification of the onset of prenuptial migration is fundamental in defining the closing date of the hunting season in compliance with the EU Birds Directive. Here, we describe the process and country-by-country approach currently followed by the European Commission to define the onset of prenuptial migration for each huntable bird species an...

Il testo, coordinato da ISPRA con il contributo dei Carabinieri forestali e di altri esperti, potrà rappresentare uno strumento utile per rafforzare l’azione di contrasto da parte di tutte le istituzioni che hanno il compito di vigilare sul rispetto delle norme a tutela degli uccelli selvatici.

The Birds Directive (2009/147/EC) states that migratory game birds are not hunted “during their return to their rearing grounds”. It follows that for each huntable species, Member States shall assess the 10-day period (TDP) in which the pre-nuptial migration starts. For birds wintering in Europe, the onset of northward movements cannot be easily de...

Scavenging and predatory wildlife can ingest lead (Pb) from lead-based ammunition and become poisoned when feeding on shot game animals. Humans can similarly be exposed to ammunition-derived lead when consuming wild-shot game animals. Studies have assessed the degree of lead contamination in the carcasses of game animals but this scrutiny has not s...

Feeding stations have long been used extensively worldwide to support the conservation of vultures and other scavenging birds. In Europe, the largest number of feeding stations was built in Spain (about 247), a country hosting about 90% of the European vultures, while, in recent decades, also in France and the Balkans, especially Bulgaria. In Italy...

Figure S1. Map showing locations of the study area: central eastern Sicily (A) and peninsula (B1 = Marche, B2 = Latium, B3 = Molise and Gargano). Table S1. Six different combinations of fixed variables used for fitted GLMMs (I-VI).

The use of environmental cues such as temperature and rainfall for the timing of breeding and as an indicator of plentiful food much later in the season is thought to have a great influence on breeding success and productivity rates. We tried to assess effects of such cues on timing and performance of the lanner falcon (Falco biarmicus feldeggii),...

Riassunto in italiano - Pubblicato originariamente sulla rivista accademica "Biologia" (2021)

1. Long-distance migrations are among the most physically demanding feats animals perform. Understanding the potential costs and benefits of such behaviour is a fundamental question in ecology and evolution. A hypothetical cost of migration should be outweighed by higher productivity and/or higher annual survival, but few studies on migratory speci...

Lead poisoning from spent ammunition is known to affect many avian species. Birds of prey ingest lead when feeding on game shot with lead gunshot or bullets. Raptors with scavenging habits are particularly vulnerable to ingesting lead in areas with intensive hunting and are good indicators of the risk of poisoning from lead ammunition. To assess ho...

Species action plan for the Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus percnopterus in the European Union The present action plan was commissioned by the European Commission and prepared by BirdLife International as subcontractor to the “N2K Group” in the frame of Service Contract N#070307/2007/488316/SER/B2 “Technical and scientific support in relatio...

The use of fossil fuels as main energy resource led to metal emissions that spread all over the environment and contaminate ecosystems and food. This has resulted in even serious toxic effects, both in humans and animals. A characteristic feature of some metals is their pronounced biological accumulation and biomagnification in food chains. For the...

Lead ammunition represents a source of poisoning for raptors eating game. Although the Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus commonly preys on gamebirds, only a few cases of lead poisoning have been recorded, probably owing to the lack of specific investigations. We document an adult female found dead with many lead shot in the digestive tract, mixed w...

In European wetlands, at least 40 bird species are exposed to the risk of lead poisoning caused by ingestion of spent lead gunshot. Adopting a methodology developed in North America, we estimated that about 700,000 individuals of 16 waterbird species die annually in the European Union (EU) (6.1% of the wintering population) and one million in whole...

In European wetlands, at least 40 bird species are exposed to the risk of lead poisoning caused by ingestion of spent lead gunshot. Adopting a methodology developed in North America, we estimated that about 700,000 individuals of 16 waterbird species die annually in the European Union (EU) (6.1% of the wintering population) and one million in whole...

The Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis, hereinafter YLG) showed a large population increase across most of its breeding range in the past 30-40 years, mirroring the trend of other large gulls in Northern Europe, North America, and Australia. Due to their synanthropic habits, dominance in colony site occupation, and excellent predation attitude,...

Durant les 30-40 dernières années le Goéland leucophée (Larus michahellis) a connu une forte expansion démographique dans presque toute son aire de reproduction, tout comme d’autres types de goélands de grande taille d’Europe du Nord, d’Amérique du Nord et d’Australie. La croissance de la population des grands goélands, due aux habitudes sinanthrop...

Our knowledge of the historical use of nonhuman animal species in captivity and subsequent human-induced changes in their distribution is poor in comparison to contemporary case studies. Here we assess the hypothesis that, in the case of one waterbird species, the purple swamphen or gallinule (Porphyrio porphyrio), we have neglected the high probab...

In animals, events occurring early in life can have profound effects on subsequent life-history events. Early developmental stresses often produce negative long-lasting impacts, although positive effects of mild stressors have also been documented. Most studies of birds have investigated the effects of events occurring at early developmental stages...

ABSTRACT Wild meat often retains metallic particles originating from the ammunition fired by hunters. Since ammunition are traditionally lead (Pb)-based, the consumption of game meat may entail the ingestion of Pb embedded in tissues. To assess the related risks to human health, information is needed on the number, dimension and spatial distributio...

Assessing trace metal pollution using feathers has long attracted the attention of ecotoxicologists as a cost-effective and non-invasive biomonitoring method. In order to interpret the concentrations in feathers considering the external contamination due to lithic residue particles, we adopted a novel geochemical approach. We analysed 58 element co...

Movements of Eurasian spoonbills between natal colonies and wintering grounds have been extensively studied in Europe by traditional metal and colour ringing. Only more recently adults belonging to the north-western population have been followed by telemetry along their journey to and from the wintering grounds, giving deep insights into different...

In 2014 a group of internationally acknowledged scientists signed and published a scientific consensus statement on Wildlife and Human Health Risks from Lead-Based Ammunition in Europe 1 , in which the overwhelming scientific evidence on the toxic effects of lead on human and wildlife health has beenwas summarised. Since the publication of that pap...

La politica di conservazione della biodiversità dell’Unione Europea si basa su due direttive distinte, tra loro complementari: la Direttiva Uccelli (2009/147/CEE) e la Direttiva Habitat (92/43/CEE). La circostanza che il quadro normativo non sia unitario e che esista una fonte normativa dedicata alla conservazione degli uccelli e un’altra rivolta a...

La politica di conservazione della biodiversità dell’Unione Europea si basa su due direttive distinte, tra loro complementari: la Direttiva Uccelli (2009/147/CEE) e la Direttiva Habitat (92/43/CEE). La circostanza che il quadro normativo non sia unitario e che esista una fonte normativa dedicata alla conservazione degli uccelli e un’altra rivolta a...

Site quality may influence breeding performance especially in raptors showing strong territory fidelity as pre- dicted by the site-dependent population regulation hypothesis. Thus, the occupancy of nest-sites is non-random, indicating a preference of certain territories, apparently of higher quality. During four breeding seasons (2003–2006), we rec...

Since antiquity, human communities have been influenced both by environmental contexts and the biodiversity of the places in which they were living. Wild species, as lions, owls, goats, entered into many cultures, contributing to the shaping of myths, believes, aesthetic understandings and common imaginations. In turn, humans affected such species,...

Italian title: Il piombo nelle munizioni da caccia: problematiche e possibili soluzioni. This is a Technical Report, uploaded on ResearchGate as dataset as a mistake.

Detailed information is still lacking on structure and duration of calls of diurnal birds of prey as well on their vocal repertoire. The Lanner Falcon (Falco biarmicus) is considered a shy less-vociferous species but no quantitative data exist. Field evidence demonstrates that in the last decades this falcon did not improve its threatened status in...

The poisoning of wild animals by lead (Pb) ammunition fired by hunters has been known for many decades, especially in the case of waterbirds. More recently, it has been demonstrated that raptors are also exposed to the risk of plumbism when feeding on unretrieved quarry that was wounded or killed by hunters. Further studies reveal that even humans...

In seasonally fluctuating environments, timing of reproduction is a crucial determinant of fitness. Studies of birds show that late breeding attempts generally result in offspring of lower reproductive value, with lower recruit-ment and long-term survival prospects. Several proximate mechanisms, including a seasonal decline of immune sys-tem functi...

Owing to its great latitudinal extension and environmental heterogeneity, Italy hosts a relatively large number of birds of prey. Considering both diurnal and nocturnal species, 47 taxa are known to occur regularly in the country, 31 of which breed here, while two have gone extinct as breeders (Table 1). Furthermore, twice a year Italy is reached b...

The feathers of greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) fledglings collected from six colonies (Odiel, Delta Ebre, Camargue, Cagliari, Comacchio and Venezia) of the western Mediterranean Sea were used as biomonitors of metal contamination of coastal wetlands, with a particular focus on mercury. We used single and pooled samples, attempting to mini...

The Purple Swamphen became extinct in Sicily in the mid 50s. As a result of a reintroduction programme started in 2000, a new population was re-established in the wetlands around the Simeto mouth. From here, many birds dispersed, colonising new areas. The reservoir of Ponte Barca, created by a dam in the middle course of the Simeto river, was one o...

New data on Amazons (Amazona spp.) in the city of Genoa (N.W. Italy) Observations carried out between 2004-09 allowed us to ascertain that feral Amazons living in Genoa are both blue (Amazona aestiva) and yellow-fronted (A. ochrocephala), probably hybridizing one each other. We gathered data on feeding and nesting behaviour and estimated 5-6 breedi...

Falco biarmicus feldeggii is one of the most threatened taxa in Europe. Its global population is estimated at a few hundred pairs unequally scattered in a vast and fragmented area stretching from Sicily to the Caspian Sea. Most recent counts showed that Italy hosts a large part (>25%) of the whole population. Consequently, Italian authorities promo...

Falco biarmicus feldeggii is one of the most threatened taxa in Europe. Its global population is estimated at a few hundred pairs unequally scattered in a vast and fragmented area stretching from Sicily to the Caspian Sea. Most recent counts showed that Italy hosts a large part (.25%) of the whole population. Consequently, Italian authorities promo...

Data bank of alien bird species in Italy: reasons, criterions and preparatory analysis

7th International Conference on Cormorants 4th Meeting of Wetlands International Cormorant Research Group. 23 - 26 November 2005 Villeneuve (VD), Switzerland

Since the early 1980s, the large increase of Great Cormorant numbers occurred all over ltaly has been accompanied by a plethora of complaints from stakeholders having some interest in fish. Human- Cormorant conflicts arose in most coastal wetlands, some inland lakes and several upper and medium river courses in northern and cemml Italy. Following the...

Handbook on bird conservation in Italy. Strategy and actions.

Reintroduction of the Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio porphyrio) in Sicily. Authors report some interesting data concerning the reintroduction of the Purple Gallinule in Sicily, where it was breeding until 1957

Redwing Turdus iliacus migration in Italy has been investigated on the basis of ringing recoveries stored at the Italian Ringing Scheme. A total of 718 foreign recoveries and 936 recoveries of birds ringed in Italy have been analysed. Most Redwings migrating through, and wintering in, Italy come from the Baltic area. The first thrushes on post‐nupt...

Malgrado il Pollo sultano non sia considerato minacciato di estinzione a livello globale, la sottospecie presente in Italia (da alcuni Autori proposta come specie a sé stante) presenta una distribuzione circoscritta alle sole coste del Mediterraneo occidentale e uno stato di conservazione sfavorevole. L’attuale situazione a livello europeo della s...

Song Thrush migrations and wintering in Italy have been studied on the basic of 3.518 recoveries stored at the Italian Ringing Scheme, and referred to both foreign birds reported from Italy, and Italian ringed birds recovered in Italy and abroad. The breeding quarters of Song Thrushes migrating through Italy are located in the Baltic area (northern...