In the heart of the Pistoia Apennines, within the protected area of Oasi Dynamo, two small birds have accomplished something that goes beyond simple migration. This is the Little Shrike (Lanius collurio), a species capable of crossing entire continents and precisely finding the same starting point.
The reserve’s camera traps documented the return of the same couple after a journey of around 12,000 kilometres, between southern Africa, the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean. Not only have they returned to the same area, but they have reoccupied the same artificial perch used previously.
CA and AC: two lives intertwined in the migratory skies
The protagonists are two individuals identified thanks to scientific ringing: the female “CA”, monitored since 2024, and the male “AC”, recorded since 2022 and considered among the longest-lived observed on the site. Both were photographed on so-called “perch 5,” a facility designed for behavioral study.
The monitoring system, based on camera traps and reading of colored rings, allows individuals to be followed without direct interference. The project is coordinated by Oasi Dynamo with the support of researchers and wildlife technicians, in collaboration with the CNR of Florence and the Progetto Migratoria association.
A sentinel species of agricultural ecosystems
The Little Shrike is considered an indicator species of the health of European rural environments. Predator of insects and small vertebrates, it depends on traditional agricultural landscapes rich in hedges and shrubs. In recent decades it has suffered a sharp decline due to intensive agriculture, habitat loss and the use of pesticides. Its regular return to the Pistoia Apennines therefore represents a positive signal on the ecological quality of the reserve.
The data collected has already shown cases of fidelity to breeding sites, but rarely with such extreme precision. The return of the same pair to the same perch reinforces the idea of an extraordinary spatial memory in small trans-Saharan migrants. A result that contributes to the knowledge of migratory routes and the protection of an increasingly vulnerable species.
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