Over 90 dead flycatchers, hundreds of traps seized and 31 birds saved and returned to the wild. This is the outcome of the “Black Flying Bird 2026” operation, conducted by the Forestry Carabinieri in the Lombardy-Veneto Prealps to combat poaching of small migratory birds.
Volunteers from CABS, Lipu, LAC, Legambiente and WWF also collaborated in the operation, coordinated by the Forestry, Environmental and Agri-food Unit Command of the Carabinieri (CUFAA), through the Operations Department – SOARDA of the CITES Carabinieri Group and supported by the Forestry Carabinieri Group of Brescia and the territorial line departments, involved in monitoring migratory flows. An intervention that comes in particularly delicate days: from 2 September, in fact, the pre-opening days of the hunting season began in 15 Italian regions, while millions of birds cross our country during the post-breeding migration.
Over 300 traps and dozens of dead birds
The operation led to the reporting of 6 people and the seizure of over 300 “Sep” type traps, 23 “prodine”, 23 nets, 7 prohibited acoustic decoys and 69 ammunition. In addition to the 93 pied flycatchers, three redstarts, three great warblers and a nuthatch were also found dead. The alleged crimes range from fowling to hunting during prohibited periods, up to the mistreatment of animals, the use of prohibited means and the illegal carrying of weapons.
@Carabinieri CITES
Thirty-one birds, fortunately, were still alive and were released after checking their health conditions. The Black Nurse (Ficedula hypoleuca) is a small bird of just a dozen centimeters, but during migration it can travel thousands of kilometers from Europe to sub-Saharan Africa. The Lombardy-Venetian Prealps are located along important migratory routes and right here nets, bows, electronic decoys and traps can transform into a deadly barrier for animals already tested by exhausting journeys.
@Carabinieri CITES
Migratory birds increasingly under pressure
With the increase in hunters in the area, in shootings and in hunting activity (authorized after a hellish summer of drought and fires), the pressure on the animals inevitably increases right at the height of the autumn migration. And the need for widespread controls to identify killings of protected species, use of prohibited decoys, hunting outside permitted hours or other violations increases.
Migratory birds already face grueling journeys, drought, fires, land use and habitat destruction. Added to all this is poaching and hunting, a legal activity but no less bloody.
