2 October 2017

In the last days we carried out the post-reproduction survey of Scopoli's shearwater (Calonectris diomedea) nests in Palmarola. Now that chicks are grown and almost ready to fly, we wanted to know how many of them survived to rad predation.

Unfortunately, results are disappointing: just one chick in ten survived. This very low reproductive success is caused by the impact of black rat, a species considered an "alien" for Palmarola, i.e. it arrived on the island carried by man. 

However, this was the last year that shearwater chicks were decimated, as in January we will begin rat eradication on both islands of Palmarola and Ventotene. If successful, this action will eliminate an important threat to the conservation of shearwater colonies of the Ponziane Islands.