On the 20th of May 2006 the San Michele Foundation, the Ottenby Bird Observatory (Sweden) and the Italian Ringing Center from the National Institute of Wild Fauna in Bologna celebrates:

“The 50th anniversary of the Capri Bird Observatory”.

The celebration will comprehend a conference where the history of the Bird Observatory and the work done by the Swedish and Italian ornithologist during the last 50 years will be presented. The conference will be held in English.
At this special occasion a new exhibition in the nature pavilion Olivetum of Villa San Michele will be inaugurated.

The Capri Bird Observatory is situated in Castello Barbarossa, the castle above the Villa. The hill on top of which the castle lies was bought by the Swedish physician Dr. Axel Munthe primarily to protect the bird life in the immediate surroundings. The observatory was then founded in 1956, by the Swedish Ornithological Society in cooperation with San Michele Foundation. The aim was to study the bird migration at a site half-way between the winter quarter in tropical Africa and breeding areas in Sweden and around the Baltic Sea. From the mid-1980s the work is done in cooperation with Italian ornithologists; first the LIPU bird protection organization, later the ringing center at the National Institute of Wild Fauna in Bologna through its PPI (Progetto Piccole Isole) project. To the general study of bird migration, including ringing and the sampling of various biometric parameters, more specialized studies have been added, like visual observations of raptor migration, experiments on bird orientation ability, sampling for the study of bird-born diseases, etc. Recently, studies of butterfly migration have been added to their agenda.


Speakers:
Carl Edelstam (Sweden) - founder of the Capri Bird Observatory
Christian Hjort (Sweden) - scientific coordinator of Swedish research
Fernando Spina (Italy) - founder and coordinator of the ÒProgetto Piccole IsoleÓ project

Moderator:
Christian Hjort


Partecipation by booking only. For further informations or booking please contact
San Michele Foundation: Tel. +39 0818371401