Wildlife to see in Italy in July

7 spectacles at their peak in Italy in July, and 10 more still going on. Wild animals only: no zoos, no wildlife parks, no hunting. Open Italy in July in the interactive calendar for listening times on the day you pick.

At their peak in July

• Cicada summer chorusItaly · Insects · peak 1 Jul–25 AugWall-of-sound cicada chorus in pinewoods and olive groves, with pulsing, overlapping rhythms of different species.
• Scopoli's & Yelkouan shearwater coloniesItaly · Nocturnal · peak 1 May–31 JulScopoli's 'crying baby' wails from thousands of birds arriving over cliffs — one of the Mediterranean's strangest sounds.
• Bee-eater & roller coloniesItaly · Dawn chorus & song · peak 1 Jun–20 JulRolling 'prruip' calls of bee-eaters overhead all day, the crow-like chatter of rollers.
• Golden jackal choruses on the KarstItaly · Nocturnal · peak 15 Jan–31 Mar and 15 Jul–31 AugRising yelping group howls — faster and higher than wolves — answered by neighbouring families across the limestone plateau; the densest population in Italy.
• Swift screaming parties over old townsItaly · Dawn chorus & song · peak 1 Jun–20 JulScreaming packs racing between palazzi, the deeper trilling of alpine swifts from cliff-like towers, bells and evening passeggiata below.
• Alpine summer: marmots & ibexItaly · Mountain mammals · peak 10 Jun–31 JulPiercing marmot alarm whistles echoing across cirques, cowbells far below, alpine choughs, streams.
• Fin whales & sperm whales, Pelagos SanctuaryItaly · Marine mammals · peak 1 Jul–31 AugWith a hydrophone: sperm whale clicks and codas, dolphin whistles. Fin whale calls are infrasonic (about 20 Hz) and need a suitable hydrophone.

Also going on in July

• Mediterranean nights: nightingale & scops owlItaly · Nocturnal · peak 20 Apr–31 MayNightingales everywhere, the metronomic 'tiu' of scops owls (often several in duet), stone-curlew wails, tree frogs.
• Tree frog & water frog chorusItaly · Amphibian chorus · peak 25 Apr–5 JunDeafening tree frog 'kra-kra-kra' choruses, with the laughing croaks of water frogs from rice paddies and ditches.
• Wolf howlingItaly · Nocturnal · peak 1 Aug–30 Sep and 15 Jan–15 FebChorus howls from family packs, including pups' high wavering howls, answering from across a valley.
• Flamingo colonies & courtshipItaly · Wintering waterfowl · peak 1 Feb–30 AprGoose-like gabbling of big flocks, and the synchronised 'marching' displays with a constant honking.
• Heron colonies ('garzaie')Italy · Breeding colony · peak 1 May–20 JunCroaking, gargling colony noise, night heron 'quok' calls at dusk, begging chicks.
• Lesser kestrel colonies in the Sassi of MateraItaly · Raptors · peak 1 May–30 JunHundreds of chattering 'che-che-che' kestrels wheeling over the roofs of a UNESCO old town at dusk, with swifts, jackdaws and church bells.
• Eleonora's falcon coloniesItaly · Raptors · peak 20 Aug–10 OctHarsh 'kya-kya' calls from dozens of falcons over sea cliffs, chicks begging, the surf below; a visual spectacle with a lean soundtrack.
• Firefly nightsItaly · Insects · peak 25 May–25 JunA visual spectacle: synchronised flashing over meadows. For sound, the early-summer night ambience — crickets, nightingales, and scops owls.
• Griffon vultures of the Bosa coast, SardiniaItaly · Raptors · peak 1 Feb–30 JunMostly visual: Italy's largest griffon colony riding the updraughts of volcanic sea cliffs. Sound is the Mediterranean swell under the cliffs, the wing-rush of birds passing close, hissing at the ledges, blue rock thrush and, in summer, Eleonora's falcons chattering along the coast.
• Raptor migration: Strait of MessinaItaly · Migration · peak 25 Apr–15 May and 20 Aug–15 SepMostly visual — kettles of raptors — but also bee-eater flocks overhead, and swifts and hirundines passing.

More: Italy all year · July along the whole flyway