A comparison of peregrine Falco peregrinus and lanner Falco biarmicus trophic niche in Sicily
Prey availability is a crucial factor for the reproductive success of apex predators and the analysis of their diets can provide meaningful information about the quality of their habitats. In Sicily the declining lanner falcon Falco biarmicus feldeggii and the increasing peregrine falcon Falco pereg...
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Gruppo Piemontese Studi Ornitologici "F. A. Bonelli"
2017
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10447/252353 |
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ftunivpalermo:oai:iris.unipa.it:10447/252353 2024-02-04T10:00:17+01:00 A comparison of peregrine Falco peregrinus and lanner Falco biarmicus trophic niche in Sicily VITALE, Elisa Guzzo E Bondi' S ANTIOCO, NICOLA SCHIFANI, Enrico Mascara R Sara' M. Vitale, E. Guzzo, E. Bondi', S. Antioco, N. Schifani, E. Mascara, R. Sara', M. 2017 http://hdl.handle.net/10447/252353 eng eng Gruppo Piemontese Studi Ornitologici "F. A. Bonelli" country:IT XIX Convegno Italiano Ornitologia volume:6 issue:6 firstpage:24 lastpage:25 numberofpages:2 journal:TICHODROMA http://hdl.handle.net/10447/252353 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Peregrine falcon pellet trophic niche Sicily Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2017 ftunivpalermo 2024-01-09T23:32:05Z Prey availability is a crucial factor for the reproductive success of apex predators and the analysis of their diets can provide meaningful information about the quality of their habitats. In Sicily the declining lanner falcon Falco biarmicus feldeggii and the increasing peregrine falcon Falco peregrines brookei share similar habitats and trophic needs. By studying their current and past diets, we have investigated whether the characteristics of their foraging ecology could explain these different demographic trends. In 2014-2016, we identified 805 peregrine and 250 lanner Vertebrate prey from 15 peregrine and 6 lanner nests, and compared our dataset with previous data from Sicily (Peregrine 1978-81; Lanner 1981-88). The average number of Vertebrate prey in peregrine nests (53,7 ± 28,7) was higher than in lanner nests (42,0 ± 25,6). Expectedly, peregrine preyed exclusively upon birds, while lanner upon birds (92,9%), small mammals (4%), and reptiles (2,4%). Orioles and common swifts were significant prey for the former, while the european rabbit was important for the latter in terms of biomass. Pigeons, starlings and magpies formed the majority of prey for both species, and collared dove, previously absent in Sicily, appears in their current diet. The average avian prey was smaller for peregrine (97,7 g) than for lanner (122,5 g). Over decades, the lanner richness of prey species (S) decreased (from 55 to 33) while the one of peregrine increased (from 38 to 63). Alfa-diversity index showed a similar figure, while dominance as expressed by the Simpson index (1-D) was lower in present lanner diet (0,83) than in past lanner, as well as in past and present peregrine diets (all indexes >0,90). Trophic niche overlap between the past and present datasets is medium according to Whittaker's index (0,44 peregrine; 0,48 lanner; 0,42 peregrine/lanner past; 0,48 peregrine/lanner present). Lanner preyed also on insects in both periods, with considerable differences (npast = 341 and ncurrent = 2) which can be attributed to ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Falco peregrinus peregrine falcon IRIS Università degli Studi di Palermo |
institution |
Open Polar |
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IRIS Università degli Studi di Palermo |
op_collection_id |
ftunivpalermo |
language |
English |
topic |
Peregrine falcon pellet trophic niche Sicily Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia |
spellingShingle |
Peregrine falcon pellet trophic niche Sicily Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia VITALE, Elisa Guzzo E Bondi' S ANTIOCO, NICOLA SCHIFANI, Enrico Mascara R Sara' M. A comparison of peregrine Falco peregrinus and lanner Falco biarmicus trophic niche in Sicily |
topic_facet |
Peregrine falcon pellet trophic niche Sicily Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia |
description |
Prey availability is a crucial factor for the reproductive success of apex predators and the analysis of their diets can provide meaningful information about the quality of their habitats. In Sicily the declining lanner falcon Falco biarmicus feldeggii and the increasing peregrine falcon Falco peregrines brookei share similar habitats and trophic needs. By studying their current and past diets, we have investigated whether the characteristics of their foraging ecology could explain these different demographic trends. In 2014-2016, we identified 805 peregrine and 250 lanner Vertebrate prey from 15 peregrine and 6 lanner nests, and compared our dataset with previous data from Sicily (Peregrine 1978-81; Lanner 1981-88). The average number of Vertebrate prey in peregrine nests (53,7 ± 28,7) was higher than in lanner nests (42,0 ± 25,6). Expectedly, peregrine preyed exclusively upon birds, while lanner upon birds (92,9%), small mammals (4%), and reptiles (2,4%). Orioles and common swifts were significant prey for the former, while the european rabbit was important for the latter in terms of biomass. Pigeons, starlings and magpies formed the majority of prey for both species, and collared dove, previously absent in Sicily, appears in their current diet. The average avian prey was smaller for peregrine (97,7 g) than for lanner (122,5 g). Over decades, the lanner richness of prey species (S) decreased (from 55 to 33) while the one of peregrine increased (from 38 to 63). Alfa-diversity index showed a similar figure, while dominance as expressed by the Simpson index (1-D) was lower in present lanner diet (0,83) than in past lanner, as well as in past and present peregrine diets (all indexes >0,90). Trophic niche overlap between the past and present datasets is medium according to Whittaker's index (0,44 peregrine; 0,48 lanner; 0,42 peregrine/lanner past; 0,48 peregrine/lanner present). Lanner preyed also on insects in both periods, with considerable differences (npast = 341 and ncurrent = 2) which can be attributed to ... |
author2 |
Vitale, E. Guzzo, E. Bondi', S. Antioco, N. Schifani, E. Mascara, R. Sara', M. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
VITALE, Elisa Guzzo E Bondi' S ANTIOCO, NICOLA SCHIFANI, Enrico Mascara R Sara' M. |
author_facet |
VITALE, Elisa Guzzo E Bondi' S ANTIOCO, NICOLA SCHIFANI, Enrico Mascara R Sara' M. |
author_sort |
VITALE, Elisa |
title |
A comparison of peregrine Falco peregrinus and lanner Falco biarmicus trophic niche in Sicily |
title_short |
A comparison of peregrine Falco peregrinus and lanner Falco biarmicus trophic niche in Sicily |
title_full |
A comparison of peregrine Falco peregrinus and lanner Falco biarmicus trophic niche in Sicily |
title_fullStr |
A comparison of peregrine Falco peregrinus and lanner Falco biarmicus trophic niche in Sicily |
title_full_unstemmed |
A comparison of peregrine Falco peregrinus and lanner Falco biarmicus trophic niche in Sicily |
title_sort |
comparison of peregrine falco peregrinus and lanner falco biarmicus trophic niche in sicily |
publisher |
Gruppo Piemontese Studi Ornitologici "F. A. Bonelli" |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10447/252353 |
genre |
Falco peregrinus peregrine falcon |
genre_facet |
Falco peregrinus peregrine falcon |
op_relation |
XIX Convegno Italiano Ornitologia volume:6 issue:6 firstpage:24 lastpage:25 numberofpages:2 journal:TICHODROMA http://hdl.handle.net/10447/252353 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
_version_ |
1789965492082966528 |