Checklist Birds of Wetlands in south-western Sicily (Italy): Capo Feto and Pantano Leone

Abstract

Over the years the importance of checklists as indispensable basic knowledge instruments in the correct management of Sicily’s natural heritage has been reinforced by the requests contained in international conventions on biodiversity especially by the need to implement the Habitats Directive. Today’s growing interest in biodiversity makes it essential that inventories of fauna and flora are compiled and kept up to date for each individual region to serve as an initial, indispensable knowledge base. In this paper, a first detailed (and, partly, commented) checklist of the waterbirds, diurnal raptors species of two naturalistic areas in Sicily (Italy) is presented. Regarding the Capo Feto (Mazara del Vallo) wetland, the checklist includes 94 species of waterbirds and birds of prey, As far as the Pantano Leone (Campobello di Mazara) wetland is concerned, the checklist includes 73 species of waterbirds. Capo Feto is a nationally important site for the Kentish Plover, an endangered species (EN) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species that nests there. Pantano Leone is a nationally important site for the overwintering of Common snipe.