Habitat preferences of Bonelli's Eagles Aquila fasciata in Sicily

Capsule For breeding, areas dominated by extensive agricultural and rugged Mediterranean landscapes are preferred; maintenance of habitat heterogeneity and extensive agriculture are key for the conservation of this eagle. Aims To model breeding habitat preferences of Bonelli’s Eagles Aquila fasciata in Sicily, where the last viable population still remains in Italy, in order to identify the most important habitats for conservation. Methods Pairs were monitored between 1990 and 2010. A case-control design through GLMs was used at two spatial scales: landscape and home-range. Variables included topographic, climatic, land-use, road and descriptors of habitat heterogeneity. Information-based criteria were used to select the best subset of predictors. Results A total of 22 breeding pairs are still breeding, which represent about the 90% of the Italian population. The best models at both scales showed that Bonelli’s Eagles were clearly associated with Mediterranean features, including rugged areas surrounded by extensive arable land, shrubland and herbaceous vegetation. Our results emphasize the negative effects of habitat fragmentation and agricultural intensification on the probability of occurrence of Bonelli’s Eagles. Conclusion The distribution of Bonelli’s Eagles in Sicily can be described by a relatively small number of topographical and land-use variables. The maintenance of habitat heterogeneity is key for the conservation of this endangered raptor.