0000000000764004
AUTHOR
Renzo Ientile
Monitoraggio della popolazione nidificante di fratino in Sicilia nel periodo 2011-2019
Il fratino (Charadrius alexandrinus), è una specie in diminuzione nella maggior parte del suo areale europeo (BirdLife International, 2019). In Italia, è considerata specie “in pericolo” (EN) per via della forte riduzione della popolazione nidificante, presumibilmente del 50%, nel periodo 2000-2010. La regione Sicilia, risulta ad oggi, dopo Sardegna e Veneto, la regione italiana più importante per la nidificazione e lo svernamento del fratino; purtroppo anche la popolazione regionale mostra una diminuzione in linea con quella nazionale, evidenziata da vari autori dalla fine degli anni ’70, poi ulteriormente accentuata nel 2000-2010. Successivamente abbiamo solo lavori a livello locale sullo…
Evidence suggests an opportunistic entomophagous diet of the White Stork Ciconia ciconia in Sicily during breeding and post-breeding periods
Insects are known to represent a critical part of the White Stork Ciconia ciconia diet throughout its breeding range. Yet, the composition of the diet in the storks breeding in the Mediterranean regions remains poorly explored. Here, we investigated the diet of a population of white storks from Sicily through pellets collected in 2003, 2007, and 2020. A total of 1,928 prey items were identified and classified into six categories. Insects dominated the diet in all years and represented 99.06% of the whole prey number. Two orders of insects were mainly consumed, namely Orthoptera, which were the most frequent prey, followed by Coleoptera. Within these, carabid beetles were dominant, followed …
Status, distribution and conservation of Kentish plover Charadrius alexandrinus (Aves, Charadriiformes) in Sicily
The Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus is a sen sitive species whose national breeding population has been undergo ing a sharp decrease, up to 50%, in 2010 compared to the previous decade. Due to the lack of updated data and fragmented knowledge about its current status and distribution in Sicily, a specific and accu rate monitoring of this species was carried out during the years 2018 and 2019. About 230 km of coastline and 64 UTM squares 10x10 km were investigated during the breeding seasons, and a total of 205-287 pairs have been estimated for the whole region, distributed in 41 UTM squares (including the island of Favignana). Pairs are mainly concen trated in the complex of “Saline …
Analysis of Prey Composition in Eurasian Reed Warblers' Acrocephalus scirpaceus Droppings at Four Breeding Sites in Italy
Our aim was to investigate the among-populations diversity of prey composition in Eurasian Reed Warblers’ diets via their droppings, both to assess the ecological validity of this sampling method and to test whether the prey species most abundant in fecal samples were also the most present in the Italian study site. We collected fecal samples at four sites throughout Italy, for a total of 144 samples. Within reedbeds, the breeding habitat of the Eurasian Reed Warbler, we also collected arthropods by carrying out entomological sweepings at one of the study sites. Within the fecal samples, we identified dozens of prey species, belonging mainly to Araneae, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and …
Status, distribution and conservation of Kentish plover <em>Charadrius alexandrinus</em> (Aves, Charadriiformes) in Sicily
The Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus is a sensitive species whose national breeding population has been undergoing a sharp decrease, up to 50%, in 2010 compared to the previous decade. Due to the lack of updated data and fragmented knowledge about its current status and distribution in Sicily, a specific and accurate monitoring of this species was carried out during the years 2018 and 2019. About 230 km of coastline and 64 UTM squares 10x10 km were investigated during the breeding seasons, and a total of 205-287 pairs have been estimated for the whole region, distributed in 41 UTM squares (including the island of Favignana). Pairs are mainly concentrated in the complex of “Saline di T…
One hundred and fifty years of ornithology in Sicily, with an unknown manuscript by Joseph Whitaker
A new complete check-list of Birds of Sicily is presented in this paper, with a comparison with previous lists for a period of one hundred and fifty years. Further, an unknown manuscript by Joseph Whitaker “Birds of Sicily”, dated back to ca. 1920, has been transcribed and is here presented integrally. Thus, lists of birds here presented have been separated as follows: i) Doderlein (1869–1874); ii) Whitaker (1920); iii) Iapichino & Massa (1989), Lo Valvo et al. (1993) iv) Corso (2005), Ientile & Massa (2008); v) 2010–2020: Massa et al. (2015) and personal observations; vi) long-term trend: personal observations. Overall, 437 species are listed. Out of 283 species regularly present i…