Italien – 01. 12. 2025

Wild bird dealers caught red-handed in Italy

01.12.2025

At a bird fair in Modena, northern Italy, a CABS team caught a Maltese poacher during an inspection. The man had exhibited numerous native bird species, including various songbirds and waders and even a hoopoe. During the inspection, it was discovered that four birds had been fitted with manipulated or false rings – a little stint, a black redstart, a bluethroat and a Sardinian warbler were seized by the police. Just a few days earlier, CABS experts had also found 39 songbirds with fake rings at a bird dealer in Palermo (Sicily) – 39 birds were confiscated. The market for songbirds in Italy, which includes ‘decoy’ birds for hunting as well as ‘pet birds’, is flooded with improperly ringed birds.