Birds

A highly diverse assortment of bird species lives in this particular region of the Bolognese Apennines, exploiting the ecological conditions offered by the large variety of young and mature forests and the high mountain pastures.

With their centuries-old trees, the chestnut forests are the perfect habitat for numerous insectivorous birds: Eurasian blue tit, marsh tit, great tit, wood nuthatch, common redstart, spotted flycatcher, European green woodpecker and great spotted woodpecker.

Moving up towards the mountain tops, the broadleaf forests, consisting primarily of beech woods, are inhabited by various, generally small-sized bird species: common blackbird, song thrush, Eurasian blackcap, European robin, Eurasian bullfinch, common chiffchaff. Beyond the forest limits, one can easily spot numerous species of passerines, such as the black redstart, northern wheatear and water pipit. Clearly visible as they exploit thermal updrafts to skillfully circle overhead are the golden eagle and the even more frequent, yet smaller, common buzzard, for which the former is often mistaken.