Interview with Giacomo Dell'Omo

Today we are interviewing Giacomo Dell'Omo, he is member of Ornis Italica and owner of the firm TechnoSmart.  He has a wide spectrum of species of interests, from raptors to iguanas and rodents. Mostly interested in behaviour, but also ecotoxycology and conservation. He has been trapping wild rodents in the forests of Russia, studying the effect of magnetic fields on nestlings of kestrels, the homing and orientation of pigeons or the foraging behaviours of Cory's Shearwaters. He is specialised in tracking birds, from pigeons to seabirds and has taken part in several international cooperations with different institutions and associations. TechnoSmart is the manufacturer of different GPS dataloggers (GiPSy-2, GipSy-4) that we are using in HORUS to study foraging behaviour and migration of Lesser kestrels.

Where are you from?                       
Rome, Italy
Since when did you feel the need to devote your life to research?         Since the age of 20
Why did you decide to work on science?           
Because I am curious as an attitude
What does your mother think about your work?       
She is happy that I found my way
What do you like the most from your work?           
Data collection in the field
And what is the worst part ?               
Bureaucracy
What kind of research are you doing with lesser kestrels?   
Development of new tools for long term tracking of the birds
Why lesser kestrel and not other species?           
I worked for many years on kestrels and I like the kestrel group
Which is your role in the project?                
Technology developer
Why do you think HORUS is important?           
Because technology is used in a smart way to study birds
Have you been to Seville?                   
Yes
Beer or "tinto de verano(*)"?  (*) wine with soda       
tinto de verano
Easter or Seville Spring festival?               
Seville Spring festival
Tell us an anecdote related to your work           
Have seen Jackdaws adopting kestrels and be able to raise one until fledging…
If you had to define your work with a single work which one would it be?
Passionating
Is scientific research compatible with family life?       
Sure, the family often follows
Even if it sounds rude, ¿how much money do you earn in your job?
Sufficient to live happily (but I do not get money from research, actually I am spending for it...)
What do you do in your free time?               
Research studies
If you could choose, would you choose research again?   
Sure

Viaje al Norte

Como bien sabéis todos los lectores de este blog, una vez terminada la reproducción, los primillas emprenden lo que se denomina dispersión post-reproductiva, que vienen a ser los movimientos regionales previos a la migración propiamente dicha que se produce entre septiembre y octubre. En base a recuperaciones de anillas, se ha podido estimar que estos movimientos son fundamentalmente en dirección norte y a una distancia media de la colonia de origen de unos 200 km




De hecho, en esta época del año es posible ver primillas en lugares donde no se reproducen. Es algo que se encarga de contarnos nuestro amigo Luis Tapia, que los ha visto con frecuencia en el Parque Natural do Xurés (Ourense) y en A Terra chá (Lugo), único lugar de la península donde cría el Zarapito Real



Pensamos que pueden estar aprovechándose del retraso fenológico correspondiente al desplazamiento latitudinal y que permite que las explosiones de ortópteros se produzcan más tarde que en los lugares de cría. En los brezales de estas zonas, son comunes tetigónidos como éste

que probablemente constituyan presas habituales de nuestros cernícalos en esas latitudes