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Manuel Andrea Zafarana

  • Biodiversity Journal, 17 (2): 163-196

    Manuel Andrea Zafarana, Salvatore Surdo, Antonino Dentici, Salvatore Alessandro Barra & Daniele Alù
    Bird communities in a restored Mediterranean wetland: a 10-year annotated checklist from the Geloi Plain (southern Sicily, Italy)
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2026.17.2.163.196

    ABSTRACT
    This study presents a ten-year annotated checklist of the avifauna of the Geloi Plain (southern Sicily), with particular focus on the restored Geloi Wetland private reserve, based on standardized surveys conducted from 2016 to 2026. Bird data were collected through direct observations, breeding bird monitoring and winter waterbird counts carried out within the framework of the International Waterbird Census (IWC). A total of 194 species belonging to 20 orders and 53 families were recorded, including 117 non-passerines and 77 passerines, with confirmed breeding for 70 species. Species richness increased from 105 species recorded in 2016 to 194 in 2026, reflecting both long-term monitoring and the progressive ecological recovery of restored wetland habitats. Winter waterbird communities showed a significant increase in both species richness and abundance following habitat restoration carried out between 2020 and 2022, which restored approximately 50–60 ha of wetland habitats. The abundance of several species showed marked increases after restoration, most notably including Common Teal (Anas crecca), Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra), Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) and Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus). The regular occurrence and confirmed breeding of conservation-priority species, including European Roller (Coracias garrulus), Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni), Stone-curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus), Collared Pratincole (Glareola pratincola), Western Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) and White Stork (Ciconia ciconia), further highlight the ecological importance of this restored wetland system within an intensively cultivated Mediterranean landscape.

  • Biodiversity Journal, 16 (3): 437-453

    Antonino Dentici, Salvatore Alessandro Barra, Davide Scomazzon, Maya Massari, Salvatore Zafarana, Taxiarchis Danelis & Manuel Andrea Zafarana
    A preliminary checklist on Arachnics of Geloi Wetland, Sicily, Italy (Araneae Opiliones Pseudoscorpionida)
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2025.16.3.437.453

    ABSTRACT
    We present the first preliminary checklist of Araneae, Opiliones and Pseudoscorpionida of Geloi Wetland, never studied before for this group of Arthropoda, located in the Piana di Gela (Caltanissetta, Sicily, Italy). From January 2023 until December 2024 samples and data were collected on the field, investigating different types of habitats. In total, 147 different species belonging to 107 genera and 32 families of spiders were found in the area, plus 5 species of 5 genera and 2 families of Opilions and 7 species of 6 genera and 5 families of Pseudoscorpions. The checklist includes interesting first Sicilian records of Glyptogona sextuberculata (Keyserling, 1863) (Araneidae), Erigonoplus nigrocaeruleus (Simon, 1882), Mecopisthes silus (O. Pickard Cambridge, 1873) (Linyphiidae), Tetragnatha dearmata Thorell, 1873, Tetragnatha montana Simon, 1874 (Tetragnathidae), Theridion hannoniae Denis, 1945 (Theridiidae) and Ozyptila pauxilla (Simon, 1870) (Thomisidae). Additional biological, distribution and chorotype information are indicated for each of the new records.

  • Biodiversity Journal, 15 (2): 301-309 - MONOGRAPH

    Paolo Galasso, Salvatore Surdo & Manuel Andrea Zafarana
    An updated estimate of the wintering population of Sanderling Calidris alba (J.F. Gmelin, 1788) in Sicily for the years 2015-2022
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2024.15.2.301.309

    ABSTRACT
    The Sanderling Calidris alba (J.F. Gmelin, 1788) overwinters along the sandy coasts of Italy with an average of about 546 individuals for the years 2006–2010, showing a positive long-term increase. The species regularly overwinters in Sicily, for which the latest estimate reports 30–130 individuals in the years 2000–2004. Since no further updated estimates are available, new data were collected every winter on the field during the years 2015–2022, monitoring the most suitable stretches of beaches and collecting additional data from birdwatchers and photographers. A wintering regional population with an average of 100 individuals per year (65–136) was recorded, with an estimate of 145 individuals per year (110–180). The sandy coast of the Gulf of Gela hosts 54% of the recorded regional wintering population and about 10% of the whole Italian population and can therefore be considered a “site of national importance”. Other important areas are the Gulf of Catania, which hosts 24% of the regional population and 4.57% of the Italian population, and some sandy coasts of Ragusa’s province. This survey shows an increase of the regional wintering population in the last decades, highlighting Sicily’s role at national level for the wintering of the species. Conservation measures and sustainable management of Sicilian sandy coasts are strongly recommended to support the wintering of C. alba and other species of shorebirds.

  • Biodiversity Journal, 15 (2): 277-300 - MONOGRAPH

    Giuseppe Rannisi, Paolo Galasso, Andrea Cusmano, Rosa Termine, Manuel Andrea Zafarana, Renzo Ientile & Salvatore Surdo
    Colonies of herons and other allied waterbirds breeding in Sicily, 2007-2022
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2024.15.2.277.300

    ABSTRACT
    We describe the results of the first regional census of herons and other colonial waterbirds, including Great Cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo, Little Bitterns Ixobrychus minutus, Black-crowned Night Herons Nycticorax nycticorax, Squacco Herons Ardeola ralloides, Western Cattle Herons Bubulcus ibis, Grey Herons Ardea cinerea, Purple Herons Ardea purpurea and Little Egrets Egretta garzetta, carried out throughout Sicily from 2007 to 2022. We also collected data about Great Egrets Casmerodius alba and other waterbird species in Ardeidae colonies without any breeding evidence, as Eurasian Spoonbills Platalea leucorodia and Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus. Collected data highlighted a regional widespread increase of the numbers in known colonies and nests of each species, especially of Bubulcus ibis that showed a sharp increase in number from 30 nests recorded for the whole region in 2007 up to 530 nests in 2022, mainly concentrated in eastern Sicily, in the province of Catania. Also A. ralloides, N. nycticorax and E. garzetta showed a positive trend with an increase in the number of colonized locations and nests recorded, with A. ralloides occupying the most of the Sicilian colonies with at least few pairs. On the other hand, A. cinerea showed a slight negative trend, with 45 nests recorded in 2007 and only 31 in 2022, at the end of the study; A. purpurea is an irregular breeder with an oscillating and unpredictable trend related to only 1–4 ascertained pairs maximum for the whole region. Despite the P. carbo is a regular breeding species in Sicily, it has not showed any sign of expansion in the last decade, remaining confined to a few historical locations near the Simeto River and Lentini Lake. All data here presented are related to the minimum and ascertained numbers of colonies and counted nests. Small colonies may not have been counted in some unmonitored locations, often inaccessible. It is highly recommended, in the near future, the creation of a coordinated survey network that would improve and make the census more in-depth and better standardized.

  • Biodiversity Journal, 15 (2): 265-269 - MONOGRAPH

    Salvatore Surdo, Andrea Cusmano, Giovanni Cumbo, Nino Di Lucia, Manuel Andrea Zafarana & Paolo Galasso
    Current status and expansion of Western Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis daurica rufula (Temminck, 1835) (Aves Hirundinidae) in Sicily
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2024.15.2.265.269

    ABSTRACT
    The recent paper published by Corso et al. (2021) about the status of the Western Redrumped Swallow, Cecropis daurica rufula (Temminck, 1835) (Aves Hirundinidae), in Sicily was mainly focused on updating the distribution of breeding pairs in the south-eastern part of the region; hence the decision to provide a more complete and up-to-date regional picture of the current status of this species collecting unpublished data and investigating the most suitable locations in the period 2011–2022. This survey highlights as, also in western and central Sicily, the species has been showing an increase in number of breeding pairs, found in 18 new UTM squares (11 of these for which the breeding was ascertained and 7 for which was very probable) in comparison to the last updated data. A new map of the distribution of the Western Red-rumped Swallow in Sicily is therefore presented here.