The area of Capo
Falcone and of the Asinara island
is one of the
more interesting ones in Sardinia and perhaps
also in Italy from the point of view of
the bird population. Expecially the Asinara island for its morphology
and being a nature reserve where the presence of men has been always
minimal for historical reasons, constitutes an ideal habitat for
a lot of species. A study, of the Animal Department of Biology of
the University of Sassari, proved the presence of 147 species, including
migratory and non-migratory ones;
therefore here you can still see, even if in
very few exemplars, largest bird of prey crossing the Italian sky,
the majestic royal eagle
with its wing span of about 2.5 meters. Moreover on the Asinara
there are the last exemplars of an extremely
rare bird that you can find by now only on few Mediterranean
islands: the Corsican seagull,
with its characteristic red beak, black tip of the wings, pearl-gray
back, white neck and stomach; differently of the royal seagull,
eats exclusively Mediterranean fish, cuttlefishes and squids.
The Marangone with the crest
lives in community on the coasts of the Asinara;
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| A Buzzard on
Asinara |
this specie is smaller tha the common
cormorant, its neck is a bit thinner and shorter,
and head and beak too are smaller. Also its uniform green-black
color is different; it takes its name from the short crest that
raises during brooding time. But on the hills of the Asinara
island there are several different species
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| The
pink flamingos |
of birds of prey as for example, the griffon
, the barbate volture,
the buzzard,
the hawk of the Queen,
the eagle
of Bonelli and the pilgrim
hawk, maybe the
most spectacular bird of prey for its peculiarity
of attacking in flight, with a speed of more than 200 km. an hour;
its preferred preys are other birds as pigeons.
At last we can mention the presence on Asinara of the Sardinian
partridge. Let's
leave Asinara and go to the pond of Pilo
where we can admire the wonderful pink
flamingos, come back to nest after many
years.
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