Italian environmental organizations are gearing up for their annual spring battle against illegal migratory-bird hunters at the Strait of Messina.
The narrow strait between the eastern tip of Sicily and the toe of the Italian mainland in Calabria attracts thousands of birds moving north from their winter stays in Africa each year.
On the days of heaviest traffic, the huge flocks flying across the short stretch of water put on quite a show for nature enthusiasts.
On May 5 2000, for example, over 9,000 honey buzzards were spotted making the crossing.
Harriers, duck-hawks, falcons and kites are among the birds of prey that also use this route, along with storks, Egyptian vultures and threatened species like the lesser kestrel.
Unfortunately, their arrival attracts illegal hunters who seek to shoot them down for sport or food.
Some hunters are even spurred on by southern Italian superstitions, including one that suggests that a person who kills a honey buzzard is immune to betrayal.
Hence the need for the campaign run by the Italian section of the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Italian Bird Protection League (LIPU) in collaboration with Forestry Corps.
WWF volunteers will be watching out for hunters on the Sicilian side April 14-May 20, while LIPU will monitor the Calabrian end April 28-May 13.
The WWF-LIPU task force has been extremely successful in cutting down illegal hunting during spring migrations in recent years.
LIPU estimates that 200 birds were killed in 2006, compared to around 2,000 in 1984, when the initiative was launched.
The WWF believes only three shots were fired on the Sicilian side last season.
But this success does not mean the campaign is no longer needed, they stress.
"Illegal hunting has been cut down, but it continues in some pockets around the region," said LIPU's Giovanni Malara.
"What's more, the use of illegal arms shows that this phenomenon is still highly dangerous for society as a whole.
"This means a great deal of vigilance will also be needed in the next few years in this area".
