It is not only perception, especially in cities such as Rome, where they feast with the garbage: the gulls are increasingly sedentary in the urban environment. This is confirmed by the map of the birds in european cities, carried out thanks to “Atlas urban”, edited by the Italian League for the protection of birds. The new data were disclosed in the course of the congress of ornithology in Naples and attest to the growth of peregrine falcons, herring gulls, wood pigeons, woodpeckers and the. Decreases, especially in the peripheral areas, the number of skylarks, sparrows, goldfinches and greenfinch.
on A general level, the consolidation of the species present in the historic centers such as pigeons, swifts, blackbirds and starlings, flanked by two trends: a positive one, that sees a clear expansion of the wood pigeon, the other negative regarding the sparrows (plaice european plaice of Italy), whose populations, on average in the past 10 years, are halved.
To evict the latter species from the suburbs it is above all the consumption of land for urban use. The increase in peregrine falcons may be, at least in Italy, a direct result of the growth of pigeons, wood pigeons, and the presence of starlings, of which the hawk is a predator. “In our city – is confirmed by Marco Gustin, ornithologist responsible for species and research to the Lipu – are now settled in several pairs of peregrine falcons. With a little patience and attention, you can see them go hunting in the “dorms” of starlings. The shapes of their flocks, that so fascinate us in the sky, I’m just a defense system of transfers from the hawks”.
