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The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2002 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting ('triggering') IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('trigger species') at the site:

Species	Red List	Season (year/s of estimate)	Size	IBA criteria
Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia	LC	breeding (1999)	46 pairs	C2, C6
Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax	LC	breeding (1995)	455–730 pairs	A4i, B1i, B2, C2, C6
Purple Heron Ardea purpurea	LC	breeding (1995)	100–300 pairs	C2, C6
Collared Pratincole Glareola pratincola	LC	breeding (2000)	25 pairs	C6
Slender-billed Gull Larus genei	LC	breeding (1997–1999)	26–72 pairs	C2, C6
Mediterranean Gull Larus melanocephalus	LC	resident (1997–1999)	343–893 pairs	C2, C6
Little Tern Sternula albifrons	LC	breeding (1995)	178–1,773 pairs	C2, C6
Common Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica	LC	breeding (1997–1999)	40–100 pairs	C6
Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis	LC	breeding (1997–1999)	22–427 pairs	C6
Moustached Warbler Acrocephalus melanopogon	LC	resident (1996)	10–20 pairs	C6
Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana	LC	breeding (1996)	50–100 pairs	C6

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
1972	Riserva naturale Sacca di Bellocchio	Riserva Naturale Statale (Ia)	<1
1972	Sacca di Bellocchio (I)	Nature Reserve (-)	<1
1979	Riserva naturale Sacca di Bellocchio II	Riserva Naturale Statale (Ia)	<1
1979	Sacca di Bellocchio (II)	Nature Reserve (-)	<1
1980	Riserva naturale Destra foce Fiume Reno	Riserva Naturale Statale (IV)	<1
1981	Riserva naturale Sacca di Bellocchio III	Riserva Naturale Statale (Ia)	<1
1981	Riserva naturale Foce Fiume Reno	Riserva Naturale Statale (IV)	<1
1981	Sacca di Bellocchio (III)	Nature Reserve (-)	<1
1988	Parco regionale Delta del Po (ER)	Parco naturale regionale/provinciale (V)	19
1988	Delta del Po	Regional Nature Park (-)	40

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Artificial/Terrestrial	45	Arable land; Urban parks and gardens
Forest	5	Alluvial and very wet forest
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	major (>10)
Marine Intertidal	major (>10)

Land use	% of IBA
hunting	50
nature conservation and research	50
agriculture	40
fisheries/aquaculture	40
tourism/recreation	20
water management	10
military	5
urban/industrial/transport	5

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Valli di Comacchio and Bonifica del Mezzano (Italy). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/valli-di-comacchio-and-bonifica-del-mezzano-iba-italy on 24/12/2024.