DOLOMITES - Annexes 2-8 - Provincia di Udine

NOMINATION OF THE DOLOMITES FOR INSCRIPTION ON THE WORLD NATURAL HERITAGE LIST UNESCO
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in particular) have allowed the eagle to regain a foothold in all the niches available, and the Dolomite
area now hosts a few dozen breeding pairs. Major studies and projects, including one project currently
in progress (an Interreg project, with the participation of the Parco Nazionale Dolomiti Bellunesi
and Parco Naturale Fanes-Senes-Braies/Fanes-Senes-Prags), have drawn up an outline of the
situation and monitored a number of pairs, providing results that are also of significant importance
for administrative purposes (protection of nesting areas). Another important member of the birds of
prey is the goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), which can be seen at elevations up to 2,500 m. The griffon
vulture (Gyps fulvus) is also frequently sighted in the southern Dolomites, due to the reintroduction
efforts made of the species in Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) populates large expanses of the Dolomites
in relatively stable populations.
Several species are moving into the high pastures and beyond, including the common swift (Apus
apus and A. melba), the crag martin (Ptyonoprogne rupestris), the common raven (Corvus corax), the
Alpine chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus), the black-capped chickadee (Parus atricapillus), the black redstart
(Phoenicurus ochruros), the whinchat (Saxicola rubetra), the Alpine accentor (Prunella collaris),
the brambling (Fringilla montifringilla), the snow bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) and the whitewinged
snowfinch (Montifringilla nivalis), which has been observed at elevations up to 2,500 m.
The most notable species for aspect and habits is the wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria), which is the
European vertebrate most adapted to life on the craggy walls of the high mountains. Of the snakes,
the most frequent and widespread is the common adder (Vipera berus), while the nose-horned viper
(Vipera ammodytes) is extremely localized, with populations in the Val di Fiemme, in the valley of T.
Cordevole, in the center of Cadore and in the Dolomiti Friulane. As for the lizards, the most widespread
and characteristic species found on the pastures above 2,000 m in elevation is the viviparous
lizard (Zootoca vivipara), which can subsist at altitudes even above 2,500 m. Still fairly unknown,
due to its similarity to other species, is the distribution of the Horvath lizard (Iberolacerta horvathi),
which lives nearly exclusively on the rocky walls and in stony accumulations, up to 2,000 m in al-