VOLUME 38 - N. 1

Abstract:

The CISO-COI list of Italian birds: naturalized species and the accessory categories. The contents of the accessory categories of the check-list of Italian birds are presented. The C list (naturalized species, in AERC coding) was already available and has been re-arranged here into 7 sub-categories, mainly ordered according to increasing ‘artificiality’ of presence. The other categories have been assembled for the first time; these are: D (species with uncertain status), E (released or escaped, non-naturalized species) and X (rejected species). The D category has a broader meaning than in the AERC standards, as it has been used here to include four possible options, each of them alternative to natural occurrence: D1 - possibly introduced species, D2 - possibly ship-assisted, D3 - possibly unreliable finding circumstances, D4 - possibly mis-identified. The latter two cases were mainly used for historical, published records, as well as for poorly documented reports presented to the Italian rarity commission (COI). Making these lists available has several aims, such as stimulating discussion about doubtfully genuine records (cat. D), allowing a correct approach to the issue of alien species (cat. C, D, E) or to that of reintroductions (cat. C), and eventually making order in the archives of rejected records (cat. X). For taxonomy, in partial contrast with the existing A, B, C lists and given the large number of non-native species (n = 215), we adhered to the scientific nomenclature and systematic order adopted by the IOC World Bird List.