Research Activity

At La Passata Ornithologic Station we carry out researches on birds migration, particularly on orienteering (DEEE, University of Pisa) and physiology/phenology of the migrators (Department of Animal Biology, University of Pavia). Yearly we compile a report of the activities of our Station: it can be requested directly to the director Maffeo Schiavi.

Participation to national and international projects

To analyse problems of special interest in the field of ornithology, the Ringing Centers of many European Countries suggest dedicated projects, in which authorised ringers can participate collecting data.

In 1997 the Italian National Institute for Wild Fauna and the Museum Tridentino for Natural Science launched Progetto Alpi, a standardized, long lasting research with the aim of collecting data on postreproduction migration through the Italian Alps. Particularly this project focused on the phenology of migration, considering local influence of weather, relating to the crossing of the alpine arc. La Passata Ornithologic Station made captures according to the instructions of the project, ringing from 1997 to 2001 a total of 6759 birds.

Since 1996 La Passata Station joined a project coordinated by the Swiss Ornithologic Station of Sempach, called Moonwatching. The project needs observations of the migrators inside the moon disc for five successive nights, during spring and autumn plenilunes, to monitor night pre and post nuptial migration across mediterranean basin. Recording the right time of passage, flight direction and the animal's relative dimension (in classes from 1, little and far, to 7, big and near, in reference to Tycho moon crater), it is possible to esteem the real direction of migration and the flight altitude band of the observed birds. In autumn 1998 in six sessions we counted 174 birds. In 1999 we counted 161 birds. In 2000, 97 birds in 3 sessions, in 2001 we made only one session in Summer and we counted 37 birds.

From 1998 La Passata Station is involved in Progetto Rondini - Euring Swallow Project: it wants to study on a European scale, and more, the strategies of migration of this species and to value the causes of its decline in order to plan strategies of intervention. With the participation of ringers from North America and Japan this project wants to become the most consistent data collection ever performed on world scale for a migrator passerine. Our ringers collected data from a dormitory set where river Oglio flows in lake Iseo; our observations from half April to the end of July made it possible to evaluate the presence of 2552 swallows in 1999 (72 sessions), 2090 in 2000 (36 sessions) and 289 in 2001 (9 sessions). Captures from 30 of July to 25 of September made us ringing 3444 swallows. Data are under elaboration.