Common name: Eurasian bittern

Scientific name: Botaurus stellaris 

Class: Aves

Order: Ciconiiformes

Family: Ardeide

Nutrition:  Small molluscs, frogs, tadpoles, fishes, snakes, lizards, small mammals, crustaceans, insects, marsh plant seeds, grass.

Features: It can reach a wingspan of over a metre. It is distinguished by its mottled plumage, which allows it to camouflage itself among the reeds, the environment in which it lives and breeds. In Italy it is present in inland and coastal wetlands of the Po Valley as far as the Veneto and Friuli coasts, in Tuscany and in isolated sites in Umbria and Apulia.

Curiosity: It lives in dense reed beds and due to its nocturnal habits is difficult to spot.

Common name: Little bittern

Scientific name: Ixobrychus minutus 

Class: Aves

Order: Pelecaniformes

Family: Ardeide

Nutrition:  Insects, frogs, tadpoles, small fish, molluscs, crustaceans.

Features: It is approximately 35 cm long, it has a wingspan of 52-58 cm and a weight of 73-172 g. The beak is yellowish, the top of the head and upper parts are dark. In the male the upper part of the head and the back are black and in general the colours are more vivid. It is a great migrator; it winters in sub-Saharan Africa. It frequents fresh and brackish water areas rich in vegetation. 

Curiosity: At the first signal of danger, it camouflages itself in the environment, assuming an upright position and avoiding movement.

Common name: Farfalla

Scientific name: Lepidoptera 

Class: Insecta

Order: Lepidoptera

Nutrition:  Nectar, the liquid, sugary part inside the flowers.

Features: 

It has wings entirely covered in tiny scales. It has well-developed eyesight as it has compound eyes, like those of other insects, made up of hundreds of tiny lenses. Its life cycle comprises four stages of metamorphosis: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly. The egg, laid by a female on the nurse plant, develops into a larva, the caterpillar. The latter feeds on the leaves of the nurse plant and increases in size to create a chrysalis. When climatic conditions and temperature allow it, the chrysalis lining begins to break down and a butterfly emerges, ready to restart its life cycle.

 

Curiosità: There are currently 17,500 species of butterflies on the planet, 200 of which are located in Italy.

Common name: Giaguaro

Scientific name: Panthera onca

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivoria

Family: Felidae

Nutrition: Deer, tapirs, armadillos, fishes and birds.

Features: It is the biggest American feline and the third biggest in the world after the tiger and the lion. It hunts using the typical feline system. It follows furtively the prey across the undergrowth, before launching the final attack, lightning quick and from close range; it is an able climber and swimmer.

Curiosity: The name of this animal derives from the word yaguar that means “he who kills with a jump”.

Common name: Siberian Tiger

Scientific name: Panthera tigris altaica

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivoria

Family: Felidae

Nutrition: Noble deers, boars, roe deers, sika deers, gorals, musk deers.

Features: The robust body reaches a length that goes from 2.20 m to 3.75 m for a weight that oscillates between 180 kg and 300 kg for the male and between 100 kg and 165 kg for the female. It has a particularly acute sight, about 6 times superior compared to the man’s; it is equipped with a layer of subcutaneous fat that allows it to tolerate the cold. The paws are characterized by soft pads and by curved and retractable claws.

Curiosity: The strips on every tiger are unique, like the human fingerprints.