Population size and breeding success of the Scopoli’s Shearwater on Lampione Islet
Antonella Di Gangi, Vittoria Roatti, Federico Ottoveggio, Bruno Massa & Giacomo Dell'OmoAbstract:
The islet of Lampione, located in the archipelago of the Pelagie islands
(Sicily channel), is known to be the Italian southernmost breeding site for the
Scopoli’s Shearwater Calonectris diomedea. So far, there was little
information on the number of Shearwaters attending the islet and on the status
of this breeding population. Therefore, during an eight-year study period, we
determined the active nests used by the birds and assessed the annual breeding
success of the population on a subset of study nests. Counts of the active
nests and of the birds attending the rafts at sea revealed a breeding
population of approx. 230 pairs, which makes the islet the fifth-largest
breeding colony among the Italian islands. Breeding success on Lampione ranged
from 39.7% and 70.8% and was about 30% lower compared to that measured in the
nearby colony of Linosa. Breeding failure on Lampione in 2018 was mainly due to
predation on chicks by Yellow-legged Gulls Larus michaellis, but
predation was later reduced by improving the concealing of existing burrows and
the construction of artificial nests. We also observed intraspecific
competition for nest sites. Our findings show the importance of the islet of
Lampione, and of the Pelagie archipelago, for the conservation of this species.