Reporting on uncommon wide animal movements could help in depicting potential carry-over effects at the population level, particularly in an era of rapid climate and environmental changes. The razorbill (Alca torda, Linnaeus 1758) is a regular passage migrant and winter visitor to Italian seas, but with sporadic presences usually involving small numbers of individuals. Irruptions have been occasionally documented, with the last records of an unusually large number dating back to 1982. However, in the past, irruptions have only been locally reported and poorly described. Here we report on an unprecedented massive irruption of hundreds of razorbills which occurred in the central Mediterranean Sea in November-December 2022. Using citizen science platforms and photos/videos shared on social networking sites (SNSs), we estimated the relative magnitude of the irruption and described the spatial distribution of birds at sea, as well as report cases of stranded individuals. We collected a total of 267 records, both from Italy and from neighboring countries. We also discuss the likely factors affecting razorbill irruption and stress the importance of open social platforms and data sharing to aid in the early detection and estimation of such events at a wide-scale, as well as for the monitoring of the mortality of the irrupted species.

Environmental heterogeneity affects not only the distribution of a species but also its local abundance. High heterogeneity due to habitat alteration and fragmentation can influence the realized niche of a species, lowering habitat suitability as well as reducing local abundance. We investigate whether a relationship exists between habitat suitability and abundance and whether both are affected by fragmentation. Our aim was to assess the predictive power of such a relationship to derive advice for environmental management. As a model species we used a forest specialist, the short-toed treecreeper (Family: Certhiidae;Certhia brachydactylaBrehm, 1820), and sampled it in central Italy. Species distribution was modelled as a function of forest structure, productivity and fragmentation, while abundance was directly estimated in two central Italian forest stands. Different algorithms were implemented to model species distribution, employing 170 occurrence points provided mostly by the MITO2000 database: an artificial neural network, classification tree analysis, flexible discriminant analysis, generalized boosting models, generalized linear models, multivariate additive regression splines, maximum entropy and random forests. Abundance was estimated also considering detectability, through N-mixture models. Differences between forest stands in both abundance and habitat suitability were assessed as well as the existence of a relationship. Simpler algorithms resulted in higher goodness of fit than complex ones. Fragmentation was highly influential in determining potential distribution. Local abundance and habitat suitability differed significantly between the two forest stands, which were also significantly different in the degree of fragmentation. Regression showed that suitability has a weak significant effect in explaining increasing value of abundance. In particular, local abundances varied both at low and high suitability values. The study lends support to the concept that the degree of fragmentation can contribute to alter not only the suitability of an area for a species, but also its abundance. Even if the relationship between suitability and abundance can be used as an early warning of habitat deterioration, its weak predictive power needs further research. However, we define relationships between a species and some landscape features (i.e., fragmentation, extensive rejuvenation of forests and tree plantations) which could be easily controlled by appropriate forest management planning to enhance environmental suitability, at least in an area possessing high conservation and biodiversity values.

Across the world, human (anthropophonic) sounds add to sounds of biological (biophonic) and geophysical (geophonic) origin, with human contributions including both speech and technophony (sounds of technological devices). To characterize society’s contribution to the global soundscapes, we used passive acoustic recorders at 139 sites across 6 continents, sampling both urban green spaces and nearby pristine sites continuously for 3 years in a paired design. Recordings were characterized by bird species richness and by 14 complementary acoustic indices. By relating each index to seasonal, diurnal, climatic and anthropogenic factors, we show here that latitude, time of day and day of year each predict a substantial proportion of variation in key metrics of biophony—whereas anthropophony (speech and traffic) show less predictable patterns. Compared to pristine sites, the soundscape of urban green spaces is more dominated by technophony and less diverse in terms of acoustic energy across frequencies and time steps, with less instances of quiet. We conclude that the global soundscape is formed from a highly predictable rhythm in biophony, with added noise from geophony and anthropophony. At urban sites, animals experience an increasingly noisy background of sound, which poses challenges to efficient communication.

Understanding a species’ diet is of paramount importance to ecology as it provides vital insights into interactions between organisms and their environment. In this study, we report the first data on the diet of wintering Razorbills (Alca torda) in the Mediterranean Sea. Taking advantage of the irruption event that occurred in the Mediterranean in winter 2022/2023, a data mining search campaign was carried out on social media to collect photographs and videos documenting Razorbills feeding at sea. Additional information was gathered by analysing the stomach contents of dead individuals salvaged from the coastline of central Italy. Overall, we obtained records from 32 pictures and 7 videos as well as 7 dead individuals. All prey items belonged to class Actinopterygii. Overall, 12 fish prey were identified (2 at the family, 3 at the genus and 7 at the species level). Razorbills fed on small-medium sized fish species of the neritic zone such as Belone belone, Trachinotus ovatus, Atherina hepsetus and Engraulis encrasicolus. Razorbills were mostly observed foraging close to the coast and within harbours, as well as begging for food from humans, raising doubts about the feeding conditions encountered and the health status of individuals. Dead individuals mainly had empty stomachs, in line with the low weights and fat scores detected during necropsy. We underline how data from social media have made it possible to describe, using non destructive methods, the behaviour and feeding habits of an uncommon seabird typical of the North Atlantic Sea, which caught the attention of photographers, nature enthusiasts, and scientists.

Urbanisation is reshaping ecosystems, posing both challenges and opportunities for biodiversity conservation, particularly for urban mammals. We investigated public appreciation of 15 wild mammal species occurring in cities through a visual survey of 1000 respondents across ten Italian cities. Participants ranked species by desirability in urban environments. Hedgehogs, squirrels, rabbits, and roe deer were consistently preferred, possibly for their broad urban presence, whereas rats, wild boar, and coypus were less positively rated, possibly because of the widespread fears of health risks, damage, or invasiveness. Wolves elicited polarised reactions, possibly reflecting complex cultural meanings, including fascination and human-wildlife conflict issues. Geographic variation was marked: some species were preferred where familiar (“familiarity effect”), whereas large carnivores were highly valued where absent (“distance effect”). Visual survey tools effectively captured instinctive responses. Results stress the need for localised, species-specific education and conservation strategies that integrate citizen-science to improve coexistence in urban landscapes.

A razorbill ( Alca torda ) was found dead in Bacoli, Italy, on January 16, 2023, during an exceptional irruptive event. Post‐mortem examination revealed coelomitis with severe congestion of the liver, lungs, kidneys, and myocardium. Bacterial isolation, MALDI‐TOF MS analysis and PCR confirmed the presence of Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae (Pdd), supported by 16S rDNA gene sequencing and detection of the ureC gene. PCR screening for virulence factors identified the hlyAch gene in lung samples, suggesting a potentially pathogenic strain in avian species. Histopathological examination showed severe inflammatory infiltrates and widespread haemorrhages with mild and multifocal lymphocytic infiltrates in tissues analysed. These findings suggest a significant role of Pdd in the observed lesions. Pdd is an emerging pathogen affecting a wide range of marine animals, including invertebrates, fish, and cetaceans. Here, we report the first isolation of Pdd in a razorbill and more importantly, the first detection in a migratory bird. We report a potential new cross‐species transmission of Pdd, underscoring its zoonotic potential and the need for further research. Given the role of migratory birds in pathogen spread and the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems, a preventive approach is essential to mitigate risks to wildlife, aquaculture, and human health.