Good news from the Po Delta, where researchers have recorded the growth of the only resident colony in Italy. Protecting these areas is of fundamental importance in providing shelter for these populations.
It is a further indicator of the environmental quality of the Po Delta, a wetland unique in our country. The number of spoonbill individuals (Platalea leucorodia), or simply Spoonbill, established in five wetland areas of the lower Ferrara province, has risen from just a handful of individuals in the 1980s to over 500 today.
The findings were published in a study in the Journal of Animal Ecology (Conspecific and not performance-based attraction on immigrants drives colony growth in a waterbird), carried out by a team of researchers from Ispra and the University of Pavia, in collaboration with researchers from the Museo delle Scienze di Trento and the Spanish institute Imedea.
The spoonbill takes its name from its distinctive bill, flat and broad at the tip, which it uses to sense prey on the bottom of the shallow waters where it lives. Monitored by researchers since 1989, when only two pairs were present in the Delta, the number of individuals has grown considerably over the years. Researchers analysed the growth factors of the only regular and stable colony recorded in Italy over the past twenty years, and the published results show that there are over 500 Spoonbills in the Delta, today the only area in Italy where the Spoonbill breeds regularly. "A regular migratory and wintering population of a further 500–600 individuals distributed across 20–25 coastal sites in Veneto, Tuscany, Sardinia, Sicily and Apulia is estimated," Ispra writes in a press release.
The spoonbill is a bird protected under the Habitats Directive and considered "vulnerable" by the Italian Red List, and has found a suitable breeding environment in the Po Delta, particularly among the reedbeds. "This kind of research demonstrates the importance of long-term monitoring and that, over the years, greater protection of these habitats has worked," explains Stefano Volponi, one of the Ispra researchers who contributed to the study. "It demonstrates the need for protected areas that can accommodate these bird populations." Over the years, the degradation of habitats — particularly in the Venetian delta area — and water management that has not always been appropriate have led to a reduction in reedbeds, for example, which are essential habitats for the spoonbill and many other species that breed here. "The Spoonbill is a remarkable bird. Until a few years ago it used to overwinter in North Africa. Lately they have been staying in these areas, which leads us to think there may also be a link with climate change, which is bringing milder winters."
Many of the birds have been ringed and continuously monitored throughout their movements. "This has allowed us, for example, to follow them throughout their entire migration, discovering habitats that we were previously unaware of," Volponi continues. "A genuine international network of experts and researchers monitoring the species has been established. Unfortunately, we have had to observe that many incidents of poaching still occur, not only in Italy." The Spoonbill is present in only five areas of the Ferrara province — areas that have preserved the ecological conditions suited to the breeding of this most distinctive bird. "It is therefore evident that the protection of these habitats needs to be strengthened," the researcher concludes, "as they are unique at both national and international level."