the oldest fair of bird hunting sector in Veneto; fairs of this kind were created in the twelfth century in Northern Italy, the places most affected by the migration of birds
I’m gonna assume that was a bad translation (perhaps too literal) because it almost makes it sound like being “affected” (i.e. negatively) by migrating birds (“affected”, my arse!) is the reason for hunting them.
These ‘bird hunters’ have been responsible for the decline in many species migrating through those areas. Yes, much of what is described in the first article below is done illegally (poaching) but the fact that Italy allows legal bird hunting (see second article) is a disgrace in itself.
Legally hunted birds include:
…Skylark, Blackbird, Fieldfare, Redwing and Song Thrush. In addition, some regions repeatedly permit the shooting of birds that are actually protected by special permits - in particular starlings, book and mountain finches are the victims of this practice, which is highly dubious under EU law.
Frankly, @JenniferSandlin (oh, that doesn’t work, does it!) this is NOT a wonderful thing, AT ALL!
These bird imitators do it to lure birds in to be trapped or killed.
@beschizza I’m not sure whether to ask for this blog post to be removed. Perhaps, if it were rewritten to also note some of the above, it would make people aware of this disgraceful practice.
