Citizen science project to monitor wildlife: a first census of wintering Booted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus in Sicily
https://doi.org/10.4081/rio.2022.583
Accepted: 29 November 2021
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Citizen science can represent an effective tool for large-scale data collection and can be used to improve scientific knowledge and define species distribution ranges before proper planning of related conservation strategies. A regional census of wintering Booted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus in Sicily, never achieved before, was organized by GAM (Gruppo Aquila Minore - Booted Eagle Group) on 12 January 2020, involving 90 people from several organizations. A total of 112 wintering individuals have been recorded for the whole region, collecting related data about their colour morph, habitat preference and altitude. A regional estimate of 180-220 wintering individuals was calculated, also considering previous data collected during counts carried out in some selected sample areas during December 2019 and January 2020.
Baghino L., Premuda G., Gustin M., Corso A., Mellone U. & Cardelli C., 2007 - Exceptional wintering and spring migration of the booted eagle Hieraaetus pennatus in Italy in 2004 and 2005. Avocetta, 31: 57-62.
Brichetti P. & Fracasso G., 2018 - The Birds of Italy. Volume 1. Anatidae-Alcidae. Edizioni Belvedere, Latina, "historiae naturae" 6: 512 pp.
Cento M., Agostini N., Gustin M. & Dell’Omo G., 2019. La Migrazione post-nuziale del 2019: alcuni record – Osservatorio dello Stretto Rapporto Autunno 2019 - Infomigrans 44; Dicembre 2019.
Ciaccio A. & Priolo A., 1997 - Avifauna della foce del Simeto, del lago di Lentini e delle zone umide adiacenti (Sicilia, Italia). Naturalista sicil. 21: 309-413.
Clark W.S., 2010 - Guida ai rapaci d'Europa, Nord Africa, Medio Oriente. Muzzio Editore, 388 pp.
Cohn J. P., 2008 - Citizen Science: Can Volunteers Do Real Research? BioScience, Volume 58, Issue 3: 192–197, https://doi.org/10.1641/B580303 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1641/B580303
Conway C.J., Timmermans S.T., 2005 - Progress toward developing field protocols for a North American marsh bird monitoring program. In: Ralph CJ, Rich TD, editors. Bird conservation implementation and integration in the Americas: proceedings of the third international partners in flight conference. Albany, California: US Department of Agriculture Forest Service; pp. 997–1005.
Corso A., 2005 - Avifauna di Sicilia. L'Epos ed., Palermo.
Corso A. & Iapichino C., 1998 - I rapaci svernanti in Sicilia negli anni 1990-1997. Alula, V (1-2): 125-130.
Forsman D., 2016 - Flight Identification of Raptors of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Helm Identification Guide Series. 544 pp.
Gillings, Simon & Balmer, Dawn & Caffrey, Brian & Downie, Iain & Gibbons, David & Lack, Peter & Reid, James & Sharrock, J. & Swann, Robert & Fuller, Robert, 2019 - Breeding and wintering bird distributions in Britain and Ireland from citizen science bird atlases. Global Ecology and Biogeography 28. DOI: 10.1111/geb.12906. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12906
Grussu M. & Corso A., 1998 - Sardegna e Sicilia: due aree privilegiate in Italia per lo svernamento dell'avifauna. Aves ichnusae, 1: 85- 86.
Iapichino C. (red.), 1993 - Rapporto ornitologico Sicilia 1987-89. Naturalista sicil. 17: 149-168.
Iapichino C. & Massa B., 1989 - The Birds of Sicily. British Ornithologists Union. Check-list n°11, London.
Isenmann P., 1993 - Oiseaux de Camargue. Société Française d’Ornithologie, Paris.
Isenmann P., Gautier T., El Hili A., Azafzaf H., Dlensi H. & Smar M., 2005 - Oiseaux de Tunisie. Société Française d’Ornithologie, Paris.
Kloetzer L., Lorke J., Roche J., Golumbic Y., Winter S., Jõgeva A., 2021 - Learning in Citizen Science. In: Vohland K. et al. (eds) - The Science of Citizen Science. Springer, Cham. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58278-4_15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58278-4_15
Lõhmus A., 2011 - The role of citizen science in ornithology. Estonian Journal of Ecology. 60. 83. DOI: 10.3176/eco.2011.2.01. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3176/eco.2011.2.01
Massa B., Ientile R., Aradis A., Surdo S., 2021 - One hundred and fifty years of ornithology in Sicily, with an unknown manuscript by Joseph Whitaker. Biodiversity Journal, 12 (1): 27–89. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2021.12.1.27.89. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2021.12.1.27.89
Nugent J., 2018 - Citizen Science: Birds, Binoculars, and Biodiversity. Science Scope. 041. DOI: 10.2505/4/ss18_041_05_16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2505/4/ss18_041_05_16
Panuccio M., Mellone U., Agostini N., (eds) 2021. Migration strategies of birds of prey in Western Palearctic. CRC Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781351023627
Premuda G., 2019. La Migrazione post-nuziale del 2019: alcuni record – Versilia-Alpi Apuane: Campo rapaci autunno 2019. Infomigrans 44; Dicembre 2019.
Sunyer J.R. & Viñuela J., 1996 - Invernada de rapaces (O. Falconiformes) en España Peninsular e Islas Baleares. In, Muntaner, J. and J. Mayol (Eds.): Biología y Conservación de las Rapaces Mediterráneas, 1994.
Surdo S. & Massa B., 2020. Aggiornamento sulla nidificazione della Tartaruga marina Caretta caretta (Reptilia Cheloniidae) in Sicilia. Riflessioni sul valore della Citizen science. Naturalista sicil., S. IV, XLIV (1-2): 115-126.
Thévenot M., Vernon R.,Bergier P., 2003 - The Birds of Morocco. An annotated Checklist. BOU, 141-143.
Tulloch A. I.T., Possingham H. P., Joseph L. N., Szabo J.,Martin T. G., 2013 - Realising the full potential of citizen science monitoring programs. Biological Conservation, Volume 165: 128-138, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2013.05.025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2013.05.025
Zalles J. & Bildstein K., 2000 - Raptor watch: a global directory of raptor migration sites. BirdLife Conservation Series No. 9.
Copyright (c) 2022 Salvatore Surdo, Paolo Galasso, Camillo Cusimano, Marco Reale, Manuel Andrea Zafarana
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.
Downloads
Citations
