US EditionFlamingos are stirring up trouble and ravaging rice for risotto in Italy's northeast
NORTHEASTERN ITALY, JUL 10 – Local farmers face up to 90% crop losses as flamingos disturb flooded rice paddies while foraging for mollusks and insects, experts suggest humane deterrent methods.
- On June 11, 2025, flocks of flamingos appeared in flooded rice fields near Jolanda di Savoia, Italy, damaging crops used for risotto.
- The birds arrived after a drought in southern Spain forced them eastward from their previous nesting grounds in the Comacchio Valleys, where they have lived since 2000.
- Local farmers patrol fields day and night using truck horns, barrels, and gas cannons to scare the flamingos, but these noisy efforts largely fail to deter the birds.
- Enrico Fabbri, 63, described losses reaching up to 90% in certain fields and expressed his frustration, comparing the damage to the feeling of losing a newborn child after dedicating extensive effort and attention to getting the crops ready.
- Ornithologist Roberto Tinarelli recommended more compassionate and effective measures to deter flamingos, such as planting tall trees or hedges around rice fields and lowering the water depth in newly planted paddies to 2–4 inches, which still supports rice growth but makes the environment less appealing to the birds.
69 Articles
69 Articles
Italy's Risotto Crops Face Long-Legged Marauders
An unusual pest is ravaging crops and irking farmers in northeastern Italy: the flamingo. Flocks of these relatively recent immigrants have set their hungry sights on the flooded fields that produce rice for risotto in Ferrara province, between Venice and Ravenna. The long-legged birds aren't interested in the seedlings; rather,...
Flamingos stirring up trouble, ravaging rice for risotto in Italy's northeast
Farmers in Italy's northeastern Po Delta region are battling an unusual pest: flamingos. These birds have been invading rice paddies and damaging crops while searching for food like mollusks and insects.
Associated Press News
Flamingos are stirring up trouble and ravaging rice for risotto in Italy's northeast
Farmers in Italy's northeastern Po Delta region are battling an unusual pest: flamingos. These birds have been invading rice paddies and damaging crops while searching for food like mollusks and insects.
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