Birding Sicily

Birding Sicily update from 2013:

I continue to get significant new Visitor traffic to my Birding Sicily post from 2019. My DIY content stressed how with a small amount of planning & prep, one could easily tour Sicily and with just binoculars and good hiking shoes, enjoy the casual birding that is readily available. I would really appreciate some feedback here. So if you would like to comment, drop me some feedback at BRBirding1@gmail.com. Thanks.

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Like most Canadians, I look forward to shortening the winter by escaping to warmer climes. Based on a positive 2018 experience in Northern Italy (read: Ventimiglia), Sicily in Southern Italy, became my travel target for March/April, 2019.

Using VRBO type rentals, I started in the NW with 4-nights in Sicily’s capital, Palermo, then traveled counterclockwise around the coast with 2-nights in Trapini, 1-night in Mazara del Vallo, 2-nights in Agrigrento (Valley of the Temples), 1-night in Caltagirone, 3-nights in Mazamemi, 3-nights in Siracusa, 1-night in Taoramina, and finally 2-nights in Rome.

The main focus of this 3-week excursion was to enjoy the rugged Mediterranean beauty of Sicily while being exposed to its 3000-year old civilization. Local history includes the culture and buildings of the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans and Spanish. This tour would also have casual daily Birding, so I packed my 10×42 binoculars, monopod, notebook and two good pairs of hiking boots. At times, my spotting scope & tripod would have been useful but both were vetoed versus touring luggage.

As you travel Sicily, the terrain can change from coastline, to valleys, to hills, to mountains, to volcanoes, and from marsh, to mixed agricultural/orchards, to bush. My timing was during the early spring bird migration from Africa. The weather had typical daytime highs of 16-23C with mostly sunny days (rain was not a factor). There was always a new bird to see and besides the known hotspots, fun honey-holes to find. Two unexpected honey-holes were first the Valley of Temples, a magnificent Greek archaeological site where song birds (and a feral Peacock) come out of the adjacent orchards while numerous raptors ride the adjacent thermals. Secondly, the Orto Botanico di Palermo, a centuries-old public garden which is a bit overgrown and a bird oasis right inside the capital city.

I would strongly recommend Sicily for a Birding vacation, period.

For my pre-departure Birding prep:

Upon review at my local library, I purchased “The Birds of Italy”. At $20, it is a great pocket photo guide focused on the top 174 local species. This book has solid bird descriptions plus their regional/transient locations in Italy.
Upon an eBird review, I targeted a dozen hotspots of interest to do further searches on and influence location choices for rental accommodation (VRBO, etc.). Then I creating a printout-portfolio of local Google info and individual Field Checklists for the month of March (x10-years). In the field, only observations, markers and sketches were entered into my notebook with first-time (lifer) ID’s coming later after review and potentially a further Google image search. I actually have several sightings that never made my checklist.
I found no specific Birding Pal candidates for Sicily. But from a Birding Pal contact in nearby Naples, I got a strong ornithological recommendation for “…one of Italy’s best birders, Andrea Corso, who is based in Sicily… voloerrante@yahoo.it”. If you do a quick search, you can find guided Birding packages for Sicily with Andrea or others (see Limosa: http://www.limosaholidays.co.uk). I did not use any guiding services but there are some very interesting packages and Sicily has a lot more bird species to see.

My checklist of 75-sighted species: Sicily, Mar-13 to Apr-2, 2019:

Common Shelduck (m/f)
Common Pochard (m/f)
Ferruginous Duck (m/f)
Tuffed Duck
Garganey
Northern Shoveler (m/f)
Gadwall (m)
Eurasian Teal (m/f)
Eurasian Wigeon (m)
Mallard (m/f)
Red-breasted Merganser (m/f)
Greater Flamingo
Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Common Wood-Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
Common Swift
Eurasian Moorhen
Eurasian Coot (& chick)
Black-winged Stilt
Ruff
Common Redshank
Slender-billed Gull
Yellow-legged Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Greater Cormorant
Gray Heron
Little Egret
Cattle Egret
Eurasian Spoonbill
Common Buzzard
Booted Eagle
Eurasian Marsh-Harrier
Hen Harrier (m/f)
Sparrowhawk
Rose-ringed Parakeet
Monk Parakeet (South America vagrant via pet traffic)
Woodchat Shrike (m)
Eurasian Hoopoe
Eurasian Kestrel (m/f)
Eurasian Jay
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Jackdaw
Hooded Crow
Common Raven
Barn Swallow
Common House-Martin
Crag Martin
Sand Martin
Marsh Tit
Eurasian Blue Tit
Cetti’s Warbler
Eurasian Blackcap (m/f)
Zitting Cisticola
Sardinian Warbler
Eurasian Wren
European Robin
Common Nightingale
Chiffchaff
Black Redstart
Eurasian Blackbird (m/f)
Starling
Spotless Starling
Common Chiffchaff
Western Yellow Wagtail
White Wagtail
European Greenfinch (m)
Linnet (m/f)
European Goldfinch
European Serin
House Sparrow (m)
Italian Sparrow (m)
Spanish Sparrow (m)
Eurasian Tree Sparrow (m)
Tree Pipit