XXXIX CICLO | Damiani Gianluca

I’ve been always passionate about nature, and since I was a child, I love to observe and study wild animals. I graduated in Natural Sciences and Conservation Biology, with prior interests in ornithology and large carnivores. Actually, I’m attracted by urban wildlife, and in particular I’m focusing on birds of prey populations in Rome. My interest is to understand the mechanisms of adaptation of birds to the urban environment, through a multi-approach analysis: i) genome and transcriptome analysis (i.e. long and short term adaptations), ii) movement ecology, iii) reproductive performances and behaviour, iv) diet and ecology.

Some species of birds are well adapted and benefit from living within great cities, and others are disadvantaged. Some of the main challenges that birds of prey have to cope with in urban habitats are: trophic shift, pollution, human disturbance, exposure to different pathogens. The aims of my project are to define which aspects of the urban environments are having a major impact on the Common Kestrel, and which are the mechanisms driving the adaptability of this species to city life. I have placed 120 nest boxes on power lines pylons and buildings in three main areas within and around the city of Rome: an urban area, a suburban area, and a natural area, in the countryside of Rome. The data collection takes place from spring to summer. I monitor each nest every 2/3 days. I collect a number of reproductive metrics (laying date, clutch size, egg volume, hatching success, fledging success, chicks body size, ectoparasites, pellets and prey remains). I collect blood samples from chicks, to carry out (i) laboratory assays of physiological stress, and (ii) genome/transcriptome analysis. I also tagged 15 individuals with GiPSy remote instruments, in order to acquire data on the movement ecology of Kestrels across the different environments.

• Damiani G., Jennings V.,  Dell’Omo G., et Costantini. (2022). GPS-tracking reveals annual variation in home-range and sedentary behaviour in Common Kestrels breeding in central Italy. Avocetta Journal, 87-96.

• Damiani, G. (2023). A delicate balance: wolves exploiting dogs’ predation attempts in central Italy. Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 35(6), 768–774.