Camera Trapping as a Monitoring Method of the Red-Backed Shrike (<i>Lanius collurio</i>) in Italy

In Italian mountain areas, the recolonization of the meadows led by the forests is a factor that explains the decrease of some passerine birds, as well as the Red-Backed Shrike.The project aims to manage a meadow area of northern Apennine (Dynamo Oasis -Pistoia -Italy), testing a new method to monitor the species breeding population.Since 2019, we scheduled wintering shredding of meadows, keeping spontaneous shrubs in order to provide natural perches to Shrikes; at the same time, a study was carried out to monitor the breeding population of the species, collecting color-ringed data and resightings obtained through camera traps combined with artificial perches.The first four years of activity show that the species that mainly used the artificial perches was the Red Backed Shrike; the quality of collected images allows us to read the ring code and recognize the taxonomy of caught prey.Using the same data to evaluate the annual return rate and the distribution of the species along the study area, we considered both the ringing and photo-trapping one; overall, this last was the most representative.The first results obtained by the use of the camera traps led to remarkable results that may be useful for the conservation of the species, also linked to the use of the images for educational purposes, to raise awareness among the general public about the conservation of grasslands and of the Red Backed Shrike.