This year too, song monitoring, known as “playback”, is being conducted at the Mezzano during the pre-reproductive period, to try to census the pairs of gray partridges that have formed in the surrounding area.

The recording of the song takes place along the transects, at emission stations specially set up by our technicians. These stations are positioned at intervals of 200 meters and the operators, once they arrive, emit the male’s call in all four cardinal directions. Subsequently, they listen to record any responses from the territorial males. The observations are noted on special sheets together with the collection of other data, such as the origin of the individuals and the characteristics of the habitat.

Thanks to Stefania Volani, Ispra researcher, for the video and the info.