Ammazzazanzare.

Postato il di Tra Italia e Finlandia

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Quest’estate un simpatco Pigliamosche  (Muscicapa striata) ha eletto una nostra antenna a suo posatoio prediletto. 

La tecnica di caccia di questo piccolo volatile infatti consiste nello stare fermo in un punto panoramico e avventarsi sulla preda catturandola al volo,  per tornare poi immediatamente allo stesso posatoio;  preda che consiste in mosche,  insetti vari e fastidiosissime zanzare.  Da qui il nome:  Pigliamosche.  Questa stessa strategia e’ propria di molti altri uccellini,  ad esempio il Pettirosso.

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Sapete cosa si dice in Finlandia?  Che la miglior trappola cattura-zanzare sono proprio i  graziosi uccellini come questi!  Se poi vi fanno il nido in giardino,  magari in piu’ di una famigliola,  siete sicuri che faranno un deciso sterminio… e comunque sono sempre divertenti da osservare!  🙂

Il Pigliamosche in finnico si chiama:  Harmaasieppo,  e’ lungo circa 15 cm,  e’ presente anche in Italia ed e’ un migratore.

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Mosquito-killers.

This summer a cute Spotted flycatcher  (Muscicapa striata) decided to perch insistently on one of our antennas. 

This is actually part of his hunting technique:  he will stand on a higher perch,  look around,  snatch his prey as it passes-by and return to the same perch.  His preys are usually various insects,  flies and damned mosquitoes.  Hence the name:  Flycatcher.  The Flycatcher’s strategy is shared by many other birds,  for instance the European Robin.

In Finnish this small bird’s name is:  Harmaasieppo,  he is about 15 cm long,  he breeds in Italy too and is migratory.  

Do you know what they say in Finland?  The best way to get rid of mosquitoes is having  small birds like these in your garden:  they will catch a lot of annoying insects,  especially when they have their chicks to feed.   

Anyway,  they are always nice to watch! 🙂

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Linked to:  WATW.  WBW.  My Corner of the World.  Floral Passions.  All Seasons.  Saturday’s Critters.  Image-in-ing.

89 risposte a "Ammazzazanzare."

  10. Hello Luisella, What a sweet bird. I love seeing the babies with the mouths open begging for more food. I could use some of these birds in my yard, to take care of the mosquitoes. Lovely captures of this Spotted Flycatcher.
    Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Enjoy your day, have a great weekend. PS, thanks for the comment and visit.

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  20. We came home to our float cabin to find a barn swallow nest on our front porch. The babies must have just hatched because they were almost featherless. Our presence on the porch doesn’t seen to bother them much. Good thing because that’s where our picnic table is and our lounging chairs in the shade. – Margy

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  31. sorry, so late. couldn’t reach the dot comps and the WordPress blogs on the IPad, and only now I saw your ping back! Thank you that really helps – no problem reaching you now. great idea to have small birds, as I am always the one who gets stung by mosquitoes! Great you ae sharing captures of these small birds for All Seasons! Hope you had a great week, Jesh!

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  33. Such a cute flycatcher & useful too 🙂 The nest is compact and the photos of it are lovely. The peeping bird and the little ones demanding attention…… too cute.

    I have been enjoying these spins and dives of the birds trying to catch insects and flies mid air, from my balcony.

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