Cypress trees in the Val d'Orcia

Bird trapping techniques to capture wild birds include a wide range of techniques that have their origins in the hunting of birds for food. While hunting for food does not require birds to be caught alive, some trapping techniques capture birds without harming them and are of use in ornithology research.
The Italian cypress attracts birds. In Tuscany, bunches of cypresses were planted as bird traps. The application of sticky latex, birdlime, often obtained from a local tree to favourite perches is used in many parts of the world to capture small birds. Italian birdlime was made of mistletoe berries.
The use of birdtraps is now illegal in many jurisdictions.

Cypress trees

The symbols of the Val d'Orcia are the cypress-trees that dot the countryside. More than any other the cypress tree has become a symbol of the Val d'Orcia. Since ancient times it has been highly considered: it was worshipped by the Phoenicians who believed it represented the eternal flame, used by the Etruscans to adorn tombs, in the Book of Genesis it is the wood used to build Noah’s Arc, ancient Rome considered it a sacred tree and used the wood to sculpt religious figures destined to last for eternity, an example of this is the statue of Jupiter in the Campidoglio in Rome. The cypress is now present throughout the Mediterranean basin.

The cypress trees are a powerful symbol of nature and of Tuscany, but particularly of the Val d’Orcia. There are two distinct groups of trees, located in the rolling hills of the Val d’Orcia. The first group of cypress trees is located at 43 ° 03’45.62 “N 11 ° 33’31.86″ E, while the second group is along a dirt road at 43 ° 03’38.99 “N 11 ° 33’30.49″ E.


Travel Guide for Tuscany | Cypress trees in the Val d'Orcia | Birdtraps for blackbirds and thrushes