Il-Merill – national bird...or is it?

Songs and poems were dedicated to Malta’s ‘national bird’, Il-Merill, which also featured on old currency, but new research indicates it got its title by popular mandate and there is nothing official declaring it so.

The same can be said for the ‘national plant’, Widnet il-Baħar, (the sea’s ear) or Maltese rock-centaury.

“The only official recognition was a first day cover with stamps showing these two species on September 18, 1971. Otherwise, there was never a legal notice or a proclamation in The Malta Government Gazette declaring the Maltese national bird and plant,” ornithologist Natalino Fenech said.

The stamps were issued on the recommendation of the Plant a Tree Committee, set up by the Ministry of Agriculture, in July 1970. The Natural History Society of Malta, set up by Guido Lanfranco, had been lobbying for Widnet il-Baħar to become the national plant.

The plant was first described by Maltese naturalist Stefano Zerafa in 1827 and was adopted as the symbol of the Natural History Society of Malta since its inception in the 1960s.

The bird, blue rock thrush in English, on the other hand, was chosen as the national bird by the International Council for Bird Preservation Malta, which had representatives of the Natural History Society, the Malta Ornithological Society and the Malta Geographical Society.

In 1964, it became the emblem of the Malta Ornithological Society but it was ditched in 1995, the MOS became Birdlife Malta and the logo became a tern, which is part of the corporate logo of Birdlife International.

The Natural History Society of Malta, which evolved into Nature Trust, no longer had the ‘national plant’ as its emblem either, Dr Fenech pointed out.

The blue rock thrush was sought by stuffed bird collectors

He argued it made sense that these, and other species, be elevated to national status because it gave them added protection as people were more likely to look after them because they were “national”.

“The blue rock thrush was sought by stuffed bird collectors and nest robbing was a major problem as many young birds used to be taken from the nest to be hand reared and kept as songsters.

“Rearing young birds taken from nests was a deep-rooted practice. In 1843, ornithologist Antonio Schembri wrote that people used to place a piece of lava in their cages so the birds could clean their feet and beak.

“Similarly, in the 1870s, Andrew Leith Adams wrote that young blue rock thrushes were avidly sought as cage birds and fetched high prices. Among other interesting details he noted that a red cloth and cowrie shell were suspended in its cage to keep the evil eye at bay,” Dr Fenech said.

The bird featured in a number of poems and on a Lm20 gold coin issued by the Central Bank of Malta in 1972 and on the Lm1 coin in 1986.

“Though, officially, the blue rock thrush had been protected since January 1911, putting it on a coin gave it status and it gained more protection,” Dr Fenech said.

“Former Times of Malta cartoonist Maurice Tanti Burlò had depicted a bleeding blue rock thrush as one of the options when a call for suggestions was made to see what image should be on the Maltese euro. It would not be a bad idea if our Merill featured on a euro commemorative coin. Finland has its national bird, the whooper swan, on its euro coin and it featured again on a commemorative two euro coin in 2011,” Dr Fenech said.

However, since it had never been gazetted, there is nothing official giving the bird, or the plan, national status, he noted.

“I think it’s high time that the national bird and national plant will be made national through a proper proclamation. The sandarac gum tree, (siġra tal-għargħar) and the Pharaoh hound (kelb tal-fenek) are also considered as national by a degree of public perception, which is fine as a wide consensus is a good thing, but someone needs to make them official, preferably following a form of consultation process,” Dr Fenech said.