PRODUCTIONS: THE KINGDOM OF SARDINIA

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E. Coppola, F. Petretti, A D'Onofrio

SD Cinematografica

30'

16 mm

During that time of the year when most other birds prepare to migrate or fatten themselves up to confront the rigors of winter, one bird alone, the Eleonora's falcon, chooses this season to begin building its nest.
This unusual reproduction strategy allows thses birds to nourish their fledglings with exhausted migratory birds caught while crossing the Mediterranean Sea in autumn. On a sheer cliff in Sardinia, we filmed one of the few remaning colonies of this rare bird os prey. The species owes its name to Eleonora d'Arborea, an Italian noblewoman who, in 1392, passed a law protecting the bird.
The survival of the Eleonora's Falcon in Sardinia depends on preservation of the environment of the rocky cliffs in the southern part of the island. The survival of the little bustard on the table-lands of the island is also in danger.
Very few ornithologists have ever had the privilege of observing the nuptial dance of the male little bustard. The little bustard is one of the rarest birds in Italy, with only a few examples left in Puglia and Sardinia. The film depicts the nuptial rtes of these animals against the background of the Sardinian grasslands. These regions are very similar to the desolate steppes of Central Asia and many little-known animals and plants find refuge here. Among them are several very rare plants, reptiles, amphibians and birds. The most important of these are the little bustards who put on a show every evening during which the males, in their gaudy black and white plumage, show off for the occasion. They take up positions in their tiny lek and begin jumping into the air while flapping their white wings conspicuosly in the dim twilight of the plateau.