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In La Vanguardia’s Readers’ Photos we can see these peculiar holm oaks, also called “reclaiming oaks” from the town of Fontcoberta (Pla de l’Estany), which are monumental trees shaped in this way to hunt birds.
These oaks were grown with the branches downward so that hunters could hide. From the top, they imitated the sound as a bird call and captured them, especially thrushes and other small birds.
This hunting practice was in force until the 70s of the last century, when it was prohibited. It consisted of creating traps in the oaks with a kind of glue into which the birds would enter, attracted by the sound of a whistle.
Although this practice has not been carried out for at least half a century, Fontcoberta preserves these peculiar trees as vestiges of a part of the history of the peasant towns.
In this town we find two aulinas, known as Omeda and Puigsaguàrdia, which have also been protected by the Generalitat since 1991.
These large trees have a trunk perimeter of more than four meters and a height of about 15 meters. They stand in the middle of agricultural land, as can be seen in the photographs.
