Habitat use by Moltoni’s Warbler Sylvia cantillans moltonii in Italy

Abstract

Moltoni's Warbler Sylvia cantillans moltonii is a poorly studied bird endemic to a re- stricted area in the central-western Mediterranean. We analysed selection of different vegetation structural types by Moltoni's Warblers for singing and foraging in two hilly ar- eas in the northern Apennines (Italy) with low-intensity farming. We related habitat use by the species to 13 habitat categories, defined mainly on the basis of vegetation structure, accounting for vegetation height and presence of broadleaved and/or coniferous plants. We assessed significant differences in the use of habitat categories with respect to their availability, analysing singing and foraging data separately. The most selected categories included medium (1.5-3 m) and/or low...