VOLUME 3 (I-II) 2000
Articoli e Note/ Papers & Notes
- Distribuzione
e nidificazione dell'Airone guardabuoi Bubulcus ibis in Italia.
M. Grussu, M. Passarella, M. Fasola & M.
Della Toffola
- Nuovo
svernamento in Italia del Falco pecchiaiolo Pernis
apivorus.
A. Corso,
G. Consoli & C. Cardelli
- L'activité
de l’Association des Amis du Parc Naturel Régional de Corse.
R. Judais-Bolelli & G. Faggio
- Primi
dati sulla presenza del Gufo reale Bubo
bubo in Sardegna.
M.
Grussu, A. Mocci Demartis, M. Semenzato & P. Siménov
- Ibrido
tra Gabbiano corallino Larus
melanocephalus e Gabbiano comune Larus
ridibundus in Sicilia.
A.
Corso, R. Ientile & D. Aliffi
- Lo
svernamento della Cutrettola Motacilla
flava in Italia.
A.
Corso, A. Ciaccio & V. Cappello
- Presenza
di Falco cuculo Falco vespertinus in
febbraio in Italia.
M.
Sanna
- Contingente
record di Cicogna bianca Ciconia ciconia
in Sardegna nel maggio 2000.
G.
Ruzzante, G. L. Stemmler, G. Floris & G. Paulis
- Status
recente della Cicogna bianca Ciconia
ciconia in Sardegna.
M.
Grussu & M. Sanna
Recenti avvistamenti/ Recent records around the Region
Periodo:
aprile 1999 - marzo 2000 / April 1999 - March 2000. A cura di M. Grussu
Hot Spot - La Riserva Naturale WWF di Monte Arcosu
(Inglesiente).G. Paulis
Progetti e Ricerche/ Projects and Researches
- Il Gobbo rugginoso Oxyura leucocephala in Spagna. José A. Torres Esquivias
- Decine di Falchi della regina Falco eleonorae avvelenati a Creta. Dietrich Ristow & Alberto Badami
- Richiesta di informazioni sulla migrazione del Piviere tortolino Charadrius morinellus in Italia. Marco Basso & Adriano De Faveri
- Decine di Falchi della regina Falco eleonorae avvelenati a Creta. Dietrich Ristow & Alberto Badami
- Richiesta di informazioni sulla migrazione del Piviere tortolino Charadrius morinellus in Italia. Marco Basso & Adriano De Faveri
Novità e commenti/ News
and Comment
Recensioni/ Reviews
Foto di copertina/ Cover photograph: Airone guardabuoi Bubulcus ibis in abito invernale. Golfo
di Oristano, Sardegna, 1997./ Cattle
Egret in winter plumage. Gulf of Oristano, Sardinia, 1997 (Mauro Sanna).
Airone guardabuoi Bubulcus ibis/ Cattle Egret (Alessandro Alberton)
ABSTRACTS
Marcello
Grussu*, Menotti Passarella, Mauro Fasola & Mauro Della Toffola
Status, distribution and breeding population of the
Cattle Egret in Italy up to 1999.
We examine the
evolution of the population of Cattle
Egret in Italy. The species was considered accidental in Italy until the 70's.
In 1982 the first regular winterings took place in Sardinia and in 1985 the
first breeding (1-2 pairs) was recorded in the south of the Island near
Cagliari. Afterwards the species has begun to winter regularly also in northern
Italy and to breed in Piedmont (since 1989), Lombardy (since 1992), in
Emilia-Romagna and Veneto (since 1993) and in Tuscany (since 1997). Breeding
may have occurred in Sicily (1998). The breeding population in Italy is
progressively increasing. In 1999 there were 945-960 pairs in 20 colonies. The
main breeding population is in Sardinia with about 650 pairs (which correspond
to 70.4% of the whole population in Italy, in 3 colonies) and in the western Po
Valley (Piedmont and Lombardy) with 154 pairs (5 colonies). In the area around
the Po Delta there are 96-106 pairs (9 colonies), while in Tuscany 25-30 pairs
(3 colonies) were recorded. The species breeds in colony together with other
herons, with the Glossy Ibis, the Sacred Ibis, the Great Cormorant and the
Eurasian Spoonbill. The nests are usually on trees, but in Sardinia some
colonies are on the ground, on reeds beds, and even in marine islets. The
breeding season is slightly wider than for other Mediterranean areas, as some
adults were seen with their bare parts brightly coloured at the beginning of
September (Sardinia) and fledglings by the middle of the same month (Po
Valley). The species is recorded more
and more frequently also beyond the breeding period when there is an influx of
individuals from the west (France, Spain?). In a great part of Italy the
largest groups are recorded during the winter. In this season a population of
about 1500 individuals is spread on the
western Po Valley (3-400 individuals), on the Po Delta (about 450 individuals),
in Sardinia (about 350 wintering individuals), on the coastal strip of Tuscany
(some hundreds of individuals) and of Latium (about 350 wintering individuals).
Sightings in other Regions are rare and irregular. Unlike the rest of Italy, in
Sardinia the wintering population of Cattle Egret is less numerous than the
breeding one. It is thus possible that part of the Sardinian Cattle Egret
population is migratory.
(*)(GOS – C.P. 160/C - 09045 Quartu Sant'Elena/
Cagliari)
Andrea
Corso*, Giuseppe Consoli & Carmela Cardelli
New wintering record of European Honey Buzzard in
Italy.
A first-winter bird
of European Honey Buzzard of the brown morph has been observed several times
between December 1999 and early January 2000 at Siracusa Salt-Pans (Southern
Sicily). This is the second wintering record for Italy; one more has been
recorded in 1997 in Lazio. Interesting, all those records are concerning first
winter birds observed in wetlands. This is probably related to food sources.
The species normally eats wasps but during winter it may feed on frogs and
earthworms. The bird previously reported in 1997 has been in fact observed
several times resting at ground on flooded fields or along shores of the
wetlands appearing to be searching food.
(*)(Comitato Italiano Rarità - Via Camastra, 10
- 96100 Siracusa)
Rosy
Judais-Bolelli* & Gilles Faggio*
The “Association des Amis du Parc Naturel Régional de Corse”.
The "Association
des Amis du Parc Naturel Régional de Corse" established in 1972, is a
Non Governmental Organisation working on nature conservation in Corsica Island.
Major aims are knowledge and conservation of wildlife, as birds (inventories,
ringing, databases….), rare or endemic flowers, reptiles, amphibians and
cetacean. It manages 18 important natural areas. It includes two specialised
groups: the "Groupe Ornithologique de Corse" (Corsican
Ornithologists' Club) and the Conservatoire Régional des Sites de Corse
(Natural Heritage trust). We search after groups or individuals working in the
Mediterranean area on the same topics to elaborate projects on similar or
complementary activities, such as researches and management.
(*)(Résidence Pietramarina, Toga - 20200 Bastia/ France)
Marcello
Grussu*, Attilio Mocci Demartis, Massimo Semenzato & Pavel Siménov
First data on the Eagle Owl in Sardinia.
We report the data
on the first findings of Eagle Owl in Sardinia. An adult individual of the
nominal subspecies with the mark "Nuoro, 15th October
1946" was found in a private collection in northern Italy. Another
individual was seen flying over the sea 5 miles from the south coast of
Sardinia on 11th July 1991.
In winter 1988-89
in Cagliari an individual of Eagle Owl was caught alive with strings around the
tarsi; it had flown away after being taken in captivity. After some weeks, in
the same town an individual (possibly the same one found previously free) was
found drowned in water tank. Considering the phenology and the distribution of
this species in Europe we think that at least the bird checked over the sea is
a wild individual.
(*)(GOS – C.P. 160/C - 09045 Quartu Sant'Elena –
Cagliari)
Andrea
Corso*, Renzo Ientile & Daniele Aliffi
Field observation of an hybrid between Mediterranean
Gull and Black-headed Gull in Sicily.
On 28th
March 1999 we observe and photographed an odd 1st winter gull on the
beach of Marina vecchia di Avola (south of Siracusa). This gull showed visibly
characters intermediate between Mediterranean Gull and Black-headed Gull. The
general structure and shape, as well as the general plumage color and pattern
were similar to that of the former, while legs and bill were just like the
latter. The bill was in fact reddish with a blackish tip, it was also slender,
more delicate and curved than the Mediterranean's, being exactly like a
Black-headed's. Legs were also reddish-orange, not black or blackish-brown as
in the Mediterranean Gull. Plumage features were fitting a Mediterranean Gull,
though possibly the marks on the wing-coverts and tertials were a little bit
paler, less dark. After a careful study the bird cannot be in our opinion
nothing else than a hybrid, as we propose. It is the first record in Italy but
there are already some similar reports from many European countries.
(*)(G.S.R.O. - Via Camastra, 10 - 96100 Siracusa)
Andrea
Corso*, Andrea Ciaccio & Valerio Cappello
The wintering of Yellow Wagtail in Italy.
In the January
1995, at Lentini Lake (Siracusa, Southern Sicily) is accerted the first
wintering record of Yellow Wagtail for Italy with four birds of the race flava observed. Afterward that record,
regular wintering has been documented in Southern Sicily (Lentini Lake, Simeto
River mouth, Siracusa and Augusta Salt-Pans, Longarini and Cuba marshes). In
total have been recorded 25 individuals in December-January up to winter
2000-2001. Of these, at least 11 birds (44%) were identified as belonging to
the flava race while only two as cinereocapilla; the other were not
surely assigned to any race though suspected to be flava as well (due to the call). In detail, 3 birds have been
recorded in winter 1995-96 and 1996-97, 5 in 1997-98, 8 in 1998-99, 2 in
1999-00 and 4 in winter 2000-01. Outside Sicily, exist in Italy only two
wintering record in Emilia Romagna region (1 bird, winter 1998-99 and 2-3
birds, winter 2000-01) and one in Lombardia region (2 birds, winter 2000-01),
and very few sparse winter records (Lazio and Calabria) that however are
occasional. In Sicily, there has been a positive trend with an increasing of
the birds observed until the winter 1999-2000. This seems to be real since the
relevant areas of wintering are extensively and uniformly covered each season
and with same efforts each winter. A possible factor influencing such
increasing may be found in the climatic factors: in fact winter has been every
year milder, less rainy and with warmer temperature.
(*)(Comitato Italiano Rarità - Via Camastra, 10
- 96100 Siracusa)
Mauro Sanna
Record of Red-footed Falcon in
Italy in February.
On 10th
February 2000 in the pond of S'Ena Arrubia (39°49' North, 8°34' East) in the
central area of the Gulf of Oristano(Sardinia), a male of Red-footed Falcon was
seen. It was the first winter record of this species in Italy. In the
Western Palearctic the species was previously seen in winter in central Europe
(Germany), in East Europe (Crimea,
Macedonia, Turkey) and in Tunisia.
(Gruppo Ornitologico Sardo - Via Longobardo,
28a - 07040 Li Punti/ Sassari)
Gianpaolo
Ruzzante*, Gret Lutz-Stemmler, Giuseppe Floris & Giovanni Paulis
Record number of White Stork in May 2000 in Sardinia.
In May 2000
several groups of White Stork were
recorded in Sardinia in the areas of Sulcis, Baronie and Gallura; single
individuals were sighted in other areas. The largest group was seen on 10th May
in the northernmost part of the island at Capo Testa/Santa Teresa di Gallura,
where 5-600 individuals stayed for some days. We assume that 600-700
individuals of White Stork were in Sardinia in May 2000. This is a record
number in Italy where a maximum of 250 individuals at the same time (Sicily)
and of 400 individuals during the whole spring (Straits of Messina) were
previously recorded.
(*)(GOS - C. P. 222 - 09045 Quartu Sant'Elena/
Cagliari)
Marcello Grussu* & Mauro Sanna
The status of the White Stork in Sardinia.
The presence of the
White Stork in Sardinia was irregular until the 80's, but afterwards sightings became more frequent. At present
the species is regular migratory (March-June and July-October). The most
important period of migration is spring. Migratory groups vary from a few dozen
to over 650 individuals per annum. In May 2000 a group of 5-600 individuals was
recorded in the north of the island, while we reckoned migratory groups of
650-700 individuals during the whole spring. In Italy these are record numbers,
never registered before. In Sardinia single individuals of the species irregularly winter, but in winter 1987-88 a
group of at least 5-6 individuals stayed on the plain of Campidano. Some
attempts at nest building were also noticed, while in 1993 a pair built its
nest in the Campeda area (north of Sardinia) but the eggs did not hatch.
(*)(GOS - Via de Candia, 47 - 09045 Quartu Sant'Elena/ Cagliari)
Gufo reale Bubo bubo./ Eagle Owl (Alessandro Alberton).
