Wildlife to see in Italy in March
3 spectacles at their peak in Italy in March, and 7 more still going on. Wild animals only: no zoos, no wildlife parks, no hunting. Open Italy in March in the interactive calendar for listening times on the day you pick.
At their peak in March
Flamingo colonies & courtshipGoose-like gabbling of big flocks, and the synchronised 'marching' displays with a constant honking.
Golden jackal choruses on the KarstRising yelping group howls — faster and higher than wolves — answered by neighbouring families across the limestone plateau; the densest population in Italy.
Griffon vultures of the Bosa coast, SardiniaMostly 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.
Also going on in March
Scopoli's & Yelkouan shearwater coloniesScopoli's 'crying baby' wails from thousands of birds arriving over cliffs — one of the Mediterranean's strangest sounds.
Eagle owl winter callingDeep 'oo-hu' territorial hoots from cliffs, sometimes in male–female duet, echoing off rock.
Heron colonies ('garzaie')Croaking, gargling colony noise, night heron 'quok' calls at dusk, begging chicks.
Lesser kestrel colonies in the Sassi of MateraHundreds of chattering 'che-che-che' kestrels wheeling over the roofs of a UNESCO old town at dusk, with swifts, jackdaws and church bells.
Spring passage on small islandsIsland scrub full of freshly arrived, singing migrants after 'falls', with night flight calls overhead.
Winter wetlands: geese, ducks & cranesGoose flights at dawn, whistling wigeon rafts, cranes bugling as they pass north in late winter.
Raptor migration: Strait of MessinaMostly visual — kettles of raptors — but also bee-eater flocks overhead, and swifts and hirundines passing.