Almost a year after being released into the wild in the Italian countryside, Carlotta the lanner falcon stopped flying. She was found badly injured after being electrocuted while perching on a power line. Despite efforts to save her, she died a few days later.
Carlotta was one of tens of thousands if not millions of birds that suffer this fate every year across Europe. LIFE LANNER aims to reduce the risk from power lines as part of its work to protect lanner falcons in Lazio, Italy.
The project has spent the past five years carefully breeding and releasing young lanner falcons into the wild. Since 2020, 20 young falcons have been released around Lake Vico in Lazio.
Although lanner falcons are found across Europe and Africa, the population of the European subspecies Falco biarmicus feldeggii is tiny at around 119-171 breeding pairs worldwide. A survey in 2023 found just 24 nesting pairs in Italy — with none in the Lazio region since 2016 — so the LIFE LANNER project has been trying to return the birds to the area.
‘To increase the number of individuals in the wild, we developed an innovative protocol combining captive breeding with hacking techniques for release’ says project manager Stefano Picchi.
Hacking is a technique where chicks are reared in wooden boxes that are placed on elevated platforms in their natural habitat. These are kept closed initially to protect the young birds from predators, but wire mesh built into the box allows the falcons to become familiar with their habitat. They are initially provided with regular food by human carers but overtime they are encouraged to leave the hacking box and to hunt for themselves.
This technique makes the lanner falcons – a normally shy species – less fearful of humans, allowing them to frequent more urbanised areas and so have access to nesting sites they otherwise would not have used.
A major part of the project has been making medium and low voltage power lines safer for the falcons. The birds use electricity poles as vantage points to perch on, but many are unsafe as they can touch the electrical cables while sitting on the pole. The project partners have added protective sheathing on the cables and improved the design of 363 poles in the Lake Vico nature reserve and surrounding areas.
Other work includes reopening of pastures that had become covered with shrubs, which helps to increase the falcon hunting grounds in protected areas. Reintroducing grazing cattle and horses helps to keep the shrubs under control. ‘With an integrated approach, we have released young falcons, secured numerous electric poles and restored many hectares of habitat’ says Giuseppe Puddu, head of the LIFE LANNER project.
But the past 12 months have been particularly tough for the project, with all 5 of the falcons it released into the wild in 2024 failing to survive – 1 was shot, 1 died of natural causes, 2 were electrocuted and another collided with an electricity cable.
Electrocution remains a threat to many bird species and making power lines safe across the large territories used by lanner falcons is particularly challenging. The death of Carlotta – the last of the 2024 birds – was just one ‘silent tragedy’ among many, according to the project. They hope their efforts will help to reduce them in the future.
The LIFE LANNER project contributes to the EU Birds Directive, the Bonn Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, and the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats.