*Translated by Sara Pasino
COMABBIO – A very rare specimen of Parastic jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus) was sighted last August 5 on Lake Comabbio. This is the fifth documented sighting in the province of Varese, but only the second in the twenty-first century.
The sighting
It was the Insubrico Group of Ornithology (GIO), the non-profit organization chaired by Milo Manica, to signal the presence of the Parastic jaeger. But the big sea bird, coming from Northern Europe, was spotted by Luca Giussani, who also took some pictures of it.
«Last Friday the Parastic jaeger was observed several times while flying. It carried out kleptoparasitism actions against some common seagulls and even a Black Kite, sometimes managing to steal the fish they had caught,» says Roberto Aletti. «You could still see the Parastic jaeger in the central-southern portion of the reservoir, in particular in Corgeno and Mercallo».
According to the GIO this is the fourth sighting in the Ticino Park, but the first in the reservoir, where 160 species have been found.
Previous reports
The last report of the specimen dates back to 2015 on Lake Maggiore. The bird died of natural causes and is now kept in the Museum of Natural History of Clivio and Induno Olona. The previous sightings date back to 1965, when it was found in the Verbano area and in Castiglione Olona (unfortunately it was dying, and today it is kept in the collection of the Seminary of Venegono). In1963 it was sighted on Lake Varese.