Breeding population of Black Stork, Ciconia nigra, in Italy between 1994 and 2016

Abstract

The Black Stork Ciconia nigra, following an expansion on European scale, started breeding in Italy in 1994 with one pair in the Piedmont Region and one in the Calabria Region. Since then, the breeding pairs established in Italy have progressively increased up to 18 in 2016, and they are currently in Piedmont, Lazio, Campania, Molise, Apulia, Basilicata and Calabria. However, the number of breeding pairs could be higher than 20, as indicated by records and observations of adults and juveniles, during the breeding period in potentially suitable nesting areas. Despite the low population density in Italy, the trend in the breeding population in Northwest and in Southern Central regions seems to show a slight and high increase respectively. Productivity, breeding success and fledging rate have been considered and analysed. A difference between the two macro areas has been found in the choice of nesting sites, which is on trees for Northwest couples, and cliffs for Southern Central couples. It is necessary to further explore the reason why the small Northwest population does not show any increase and range expansion compared to the Southern Central one.

First Report on a Cliff-Nesting Pair of Black Storks (Ciconia nigra Linnaeus, 1758) and Their Nestlings

“…The probable disappearance of a nesting bird could be attributed to intensive persecution for food purposes due to trophic competition with humans in fisheries and to increasing deforestation [16]. Fraissinet et al [17] stated that the black stork has been nesting in Italy in modern times since 1994, while the most recent report from 2022 [18] on the species' nesting sites in Italy records the presence of 36 pairs, of which 16 are in Basilicata, 7 are in Calabria, 4 are in Piedmont and in Apulia, 2 are in Molise and in Latium, and 1 is in Campania. Moreover, in the same year, 36 of the 79 fledged juveniles in Italy came from the Basilicata region.…”

“…As for trophic areas, empirical observations report regular use of the banks of rivers and lakes, especially those of artificial origin. The few studies available in the literature on this species refer exclusively to the more common tree nesting [17]. Our study focuses instead, for the first time, on the behavior of C. nigra in a nest located on a cliff.…”

Distribution Pattern, Nest-Tree Features and Breeding Performance of Population of the Black Stork, Ciconia nigra (Ciconiiformes, Ciconiidae), in Northwestern Serbia

“…In general, the Black Stork population has been well studied, at least in most European countries especially in the last two decades. In particular, aspects of the species habitat selection and use (Augutis & Sinkevičius, 2005;Lõhmus et al, 2005), nesting sites (Treinys et al, 2008;Vlachos et al, 2008) and breeding performances (Strazds, 2011;Tamás, 2012;Alexandrou et al, 2016;Fraissinet et al, 2018) has gained noticeable attention. Diet, foraging strategies and migration pattern have also been the focus of a few studies (Hampl et al, 2005;Bobek et al, 2008).…”