For centuries, the heathlands of Tuscany in north-central Italy were used to graze livestock and to harvest heather for making brooms (the old witch-style ones) and other wares. These traditional land-use practices maintained perfect habitat for birds like the woodlark and tawny pipit – specialists of open and shrubby habitats. But here, and throughout Europe, birds that depend on open habitats like heathlands and grasslands … Continue reading Bringing back birds to Mediterranean heathlands one cut and one burn at a time