November is a particularly eagerly awaited time of year for enthusiasts of this exciting form of hunting—known in slang as "woodcock hunters"—and it's a truly unique experience.
Knowing and working to conserve this fantastic and mysterious migratory bird has long been one of the characteristics that distinguishes a large group of hunters and researchers.
With hunting season in full swing, we want to revisit a key aspect of maintaining one of the most fascinating hunting traditions: research and monitoring the species.
The experience gained over the years in several Italian regions, first and foremost Tuscany, represents progress in many respects, both in terms of legislation and the activities carried out by specialized hunters, even outside of permitted hunting seasons.
We are therefore pleased to highlight the publication of an important study by Dr. Marco Tuti, a wildlife technician, researcher, and, above all, a passionate hunter, who has been working on these issues for years. This interesting study, developed in collaboration with other leading experts and researchers, once again highlights the demographic structure of the species and, above all, the good conservation status of the Eurasian woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) population over a decade of observations from 2010 to 2019.
Significant data collected through analysis of the wings of shot birds and, consequently, their bag contents, make this work one of the most significant experiments in terms of numbers ever undertaken in our country. This work once again highlights how the hunting community's active contribution to data collection is essential and fundamental for scientific research and for the monitoring and management of wildlife.
The text of the research published in the Proceedings of the Tuscan Society of Natural Sciences in Pisa can be downloaded here >>
