Menotti is an avid birder who loves to share his knowledge with anyone and everyone. He is a native of NE Italy and has led birding and nature-study trips throughout the Po Delta and the Lagoon of Venice for many individuals and groups. His 30+ years (20 of those years spent leading professionally) of intensive birding in the Po Delta has provided him with intimate knowledge of the places where birds gather, nest, feed and hide. He is also knowledgeable of the area’s fauna and flora and current environmental issues, since he is a licensed Nature Guide and a member of Aigae, the national associations of the Ecotour Guides.
Menotti enthusiasm for birding is contagious and makes for exciting and fun days in the field. Menotti speaks English, French, Spanish, a little German and of course Italian. Menotti has acquired a great experience on the birds of NE Italy, discovering new breeding species (among wich: Cattle Egret and White Stork) and numerous rarities (some of which: River Warbler and Ring-billed Gull, both first for Italy; Iceland Gull and Sabine’s Gull, both third Italian records; Brown Booby and Blue-winged Teal).
He wrote more than 50 publications and is author of the Check-list of the birds of the Po Delta, NE Italy and member of the C.O.I. (Italian Ornithological Commission – Bird Rarity Commitee). More than 380 species of birds have been recorded in the Po Delta, that means the 75% of the whole Italian avifauna, and you would be are able to find easily there birds rarely observed elsewhere in Italy, such as Pygmy Cormorant, Spoonbill, Glossy Ibis, Ferruginous Duck, Red-crested Pochard, Collared Pratincole, Slender-billed Gull, Whiskered Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Red-footed Falcon, Lesser Grey Shrike and one of the few Flamingo breeding colony in the Mediterranean. Menotti won in 2015 the national Big Year and racked up 354 species, new Italian record. Moreover, he has also been a licensed Tour Guide since 1985 and over the years has developed rich experience and expertise in leading various groups throughout the Emilia-Romagna region, visiting towns such as Comacchio, Pomposa, Ravenna, Ferrara and Bologna.
In Italy, a tour guide is normally a trained, university-educated, trilingual, licensed professional authorized to lecture at any historical (or archeological) site, museum or Catholic church in a specific region. Finally he has been featuring in the present ad campaign of Swarovski Optik.
TESTIMONIALS
What Our Clients Say
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“My wife and I had a day out with Menotti last May, to be recommended. Excellent day’s birding with someone so passionate about conservation in a country where there are great strides to be made. We would never have found many of the birds we saw as he knew local sights, can you ask more […]
Phil Hampson
May 2006 -
“I had a chance to visit Italy for 3 days and hired a birding guide named Menotti Passarella for a day in the Po River delta. It was an absolutely wonderful time if you ever have the opportunity. Menotti is a great wildlife advocate and crusader for getting Italy more thoroughly on the birding map. […]
Bryony
May 2006 -
“Menotti spent the entire days with us. Actually, he was an incredible guide, very patient and very knowing. July birding in northeast Italy is similar to birding in July in Michigan, that is, it is certainly not the best time to do it. Still, Menotti was able to find 50+ species for us of which 25 were new European […]
William Sverdlik
July 2006 -
“In October of 2013, I was on a family trip to Venice but wanted to see some Italian shorebirds. Menotti took me to the Po River Delta, and we saw 61 species that day. Most notable were the pied avocets and greater flamingo! He was extremely knowledgeable about the area, especially the gulls, and it […]
Samantha Robinson
October 2013 -
“Dear Menotti, Thank you for the great day in the Po River Delta. We both thoroughly enjoyed our day out birding with you. We wish you the best with promoting birding in Italy.”
Ed Deal & Gerry Chambers
October 2007 -
“Simply fantastic! Menotti got us 68 bird species in 4 hours while driving 20 miles or more around the interestingly scenic Po River Delta. Excellent with birds and bird songs, he will get you the birds you want. Congenial, multi-lingual, and also thoroughly knowledgable about Italian history makes him a must-have guide for this region […]
Chris and Ashlynn Strode
March 2012 -
“Menotti’s intimate knowledge of the bird life of the Po river Delta and surrounding area was impressive. In an all-too-short one day tour of the complex area, we poked into a myriad of habitats, observing dozens of species! A more knowledgeable, friendly, easy going guide could not be found for this area. Highly recommended!”
Carita Bergman
November 2014 -
“I spent a wonderful day birding with Menotti Passarella in the Po Delta area in April 2014. He took me to see lovely natural areas and many, many birds. It was a real treat for me.”
Valerie Glass
April 2014 -
“We had a wonderful day of birding the Po Delta area with Menotti. He is very knowledgeable and took us to many great viewing areas. We saw over 80 species in one day! We have been recommending Menotti and the Po Delta to all our birding friends.”
Roger and Anna Coor
April 2016 -
“When planning our trip to Italy to attend a wedding, my one thought was I wanted just one day of our 23 days there dedicated to bird-watching in Italy and a birding guide who was experienced and could lead us to bird watching spots. I wanted someone with whom we could maximize the most species […]
Jill Palmer
June 2016 -
“I had a truly fantastic day in the Po Delta with Menotti: 71 species seen across a variety of habitats, with 22 first sightings for me. Menotti really listened to my wishes and took great pains to find some of the more difficult species, like the European roller. His knowledge of both the area and […]
Cécile (Colleen)
May 2016 -
Menotti guided me on one of my most exceptional days of birding in Europe. His knowledge of the birds is remarkable, and he is particularly adept at knowing exactly where to look to find them. It couldn’t have been an easier experience for me, too. I was visiting Venice with my family, so I arranged to leave early one […]
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I was lucky enough to take a tour of the Po Delta in my formative birding years. During a midwinter trip to the delta, accompanied by the proverbial Padanian fog, we managed to rack up an impressive daily total, spiced up by a constant trickle of fascinating facts about the delta, its people, culture and […]
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We had a great day with Menotti Passarella of Birding Italy. He graciously picked us up from Mestre (Venice), Italy and we toured the countryside all the way down to the famous Po Delta. 76 species of birds were observed/heard throughout the day and into the early evening.
Heather & Anthony Baskey
May 2016
