One of the things I really find repulsive here, is the practice of catching or killing songbirds. Meadowlarks, robins, thrushes and finches. October thru December, when the birds are migrating to Africa, they catch them. This is the season. I am a bird lover. I do notice the lack of songbirds here and I think it is due to this horrible practice. I don’t know how widespread this practice is. I do know it is still very popular in Brescia in Lombardy. They have north/south valleys that the birds naturally use to migrate. I know for a fact it happens in Umbria. So that tells me every region does this.

More than five million birds – the highest number of any European nation – are believed to be illegally hunted every year in Italy. Brescia, part of the Lombardy region, is the worst-affected area. There, protected bird species are routinely killed in arcane, brutal traps or snared alive in nets, to be used as decoys. Sometimes, they are simply shot. Based on almost 40 years of operations in the area, it is believed that between 400,000 and one million birds a year are poached in Brescia.

“…32 poachers convicted; 280 birds saved! The largest bird protection camp organized by the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) in Brescia in northern Italy has now come to an end. 38 volunteers from Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Poland and Germany spent five weeks scouring the mountains between Lake Garda and Lake Iseo for trapping sites. They were able to catch and convict 32 poachers together with the police and game wardens. 393 snap traps, 13 small net traps, 63 bow traps, 8 snares, 1 limestick, 76 mist-nets, 23 hunting weapons, around 500 rounds of shotgun ammunition and 316 dead birds were seized from the poachers. 280 birds – mainly thrushes, siskins, chaffinches and bramblings – were released or confiscated as live decoys and taken to rescue centers. All in all, the figures are positive: the number of traps is at an all-time low and the number of active trapping sites and convicted offenders has never been so low. 40 years of operation (our campaigns started in 1984) are clearly having an effect.” Committee Against Bird Slaughter.

You may be asking “what the hell?” Why catch and kill songbirds. I guess primary reason is because it is lucrative and it is hard to be caught. The mafia is heavily into bird slaughter. They also sell finches which are highly sought after because of their beauty and the beauty of their songs. They are sold as captive bred. They are also used as bait to lure other birds to the nets. And in some part it is a tradition in Italy to hunt them and eat them. Stubbornly some Italians don’t think they should have to give up this “delicacy”. Although it is against the law to serve songbirds in Italian restaurants, dishes such as spiedo (spit-roast songbirds), and polenta e osei (polenta with roast songbirds), are still prepared in rural areas of the north.

Disgusting. I realize this is probably not something most people want to hear or see, but it is a fact of life in rural areas of Italy. Inroads are being made by the group Committee against bird slaughter. I applaude their work. They gather the facts and proof, then let the police finish it. Let’s all hope this horror ends soon.

I also hope if anyone witnesses the setting of nets to catch these birds, or the use of caged birds as bait to bring more birds to the nets and traps that they drop a dime on them. Tell the Corpo Forestale dello Stato.

Committee Against Bird Slaughter. They also have a Facebook page.