Bearded Reedling

This very pretty bird is so rare and elusive that when it appears, it attracts swarms of photographers and birdwatchers.

Males have reddish-brown foliage, a white throat, pink chest, and black undertail. The wings are reddish-brown and edged in white and black. The pearl grey head is adorned with a pair of flashy black moustaches, yellow eyes, and an orange beak. Females have a more uniform colouring without moustaches. Their flight is generally low, rather straight and uncertain, supported by frequent beats of the wings. They are generally gregarious and betray their presence with metallic, nasal calls. They feed on invertebrates during the reproductive period and mainly on seeds in autumn/winter.

They nest in vast areas of rushes, either compact or alternating with canals and bodies of water, marshes, lakes, peat bogs, and lagoons. They nest near the ground or water, wedging their nests in among the masses of aquatic plants or inserting them in tangles of leaves and stems. They move among the tangle of rushes with jumps and flutters or climb the reeds.

Once common in the Reserve, the bearded reedling is becoming increasingly difficult to spot. Unfortunately, the species has disappeared from many Italian sites. Nest-building was first verified in 1994 in the ‘Lamette’. It then also expanded to the ‘Lame’, where at least ten pairs built their nests, while only one pair is present now. The remaining 8–9 pairs are currently found in the ‘Lamette’.