Adult Shearwaters return

The first pair of adult birds that were tagged by tracking devices during migration by the EU Life Yelkouan Shearwater Project researchers last year have returned.

BirdLife Malta and Heritage Malta researchers, last year, fitted 13 Yelkouans with miniature electronic tags to record their journeys. The team also fitted a camera into the seabirds’ burrow at the project site Rdum tal-Madonna last October to gain an insight into the timing and behaviour of these seabirds as they return from migration.

This is the first time that this technology has been used in Malta and the footage included images of a tagged bird returning with an electronic leg tag containing vital data on its migratory journey.The project has also succeeded in obtaining unique images of Yelkouan Shearwaters returning to their burrows using a hidden infrared camera.

Project manager Helen Raine explained “The data obtained from the electronic leg tags will now be downloaded and analysed in conjunction with the renowned British Antartic Survey . We will continue tracking more birds than ever before and our data will help the government to designate Marine Special Protection areas around the Maltese islands.”

Yelkouan Shearwaters return to Malta in around October to claim a nest. By March, they are incubating an egg and both adults and chicks leave the Maltese Islands at the end of the breeding season in July. The project has already tracked two juvenile birds on their first journeys from the nest using satellite tags, discovering that the birds travel as far as the eastern Mediterranean.

Little, however, is known as yet about the migration patterns of the adults. Researchers hope that the leg tags are about to change that, finally revealing the whereabouts of these birds while they are away from Malta. Knowing where the birds go will help researchers to protect them at sea.

EU Life Yelkouan Shearwater Project is the biggest conservation initiative of its kind in Malta. It is part sponsored by the Life Nature Programme,which provides funding to European Union countries to promote sustainable development and assist in developing positive management for key habitats and birds. The project consists of four government partners and three conservation organisations, with contributions from HSBC and MEPA.