HACKING ACTIVITIES START AGAIN: NEW LESSER KESTREL CHICKS ON THE WAY

A new start for the hacking activities of #LIFEFALKON. The 28th of June, the LIFE FALKON team composed by ISPRA, UMIL and CNR has translocated 33 lesser kestrels chicks from the colony of Matera (Southern Italy) to the ‘Matteo Griggio’ nesting tower of Baricella, close to Bolonia (northern Italy). 

The translocation, embedded in the conservation actions of LIFE FALKON, is not aimed to improve the population size but to accelerate the colonization of our nestboxes and nesting towers. This will grant a safe future for the Po Plain population of lesser kestrels, increasing the proportion of pairs that breed in safe places. 

After the translocations, the action entered in its core with the close follow-up and the hand-raising of the chicks. These were fed having care to never got in direct contact with our personnel and had the opportunity to share the space with two (injured) adults lesser kestrels that inhabit the same nesting tower, thus simulating the environment of a true colony. Our team also installed a camera to study and observe the growth and the behavior of the chicks, until they left the tower to undergo their autumn migration towards the African wintering range.

Photo credits: Luca Eberle

28 July 2022