Ethereal calls in the night: discover the sound of Malta’s shearwaters
Treat your family to a unique nocturnal soundfest until July
Nocturnal serenade
It’s hot… but maybe you’re not ready to head down to the sea yet? Luckily, one of nature’s hidden marvels is happening in just the right place for an evening’s chilling. Head off to the cliffs above Għar Ħasan, Wied Fulija or Miġra l-Ferħa or, if you’re in Gozo, to Ta’ Ċenċ or Dwejra, and be prepared for a flesh-tingling experience.
This is the time of year when shearwaters throng to our cliffs to serenade each other with love songs. Once you’ve heard the ethereal call of hundreds of shearwaters in the dark, you’ll remember the experience forever.
The good news is that you have until end of July to indulge your newfound passion for the love songs of these seafaring birds.
Shearwaters gather in rafts at sea, waiting for the dark to fly in to their nests. Photo: Aron TantiCreatures of the sea
Shearwaters are long and slender-winged seabirds that spend their lives skimming the waves, a habit that has earned them their name. Here they ride the breeze with skilful agility just above the sea’s surface to minimise wing flaps and conserve energy as they scout for small fish below the waves.
Like all seabirds, shearwaters have a keen sense of smell, but these birds’ olfactory prowess is more akin to a super sense. They can smell a chemical released by microscopic algae that are the food of tiny shrimps called krill, and this will lead them to the fish that prey on them.
What’s more, these amazing birds can navigate their way from their winter feeding grounds in the Atlantic or off the Tunisian coast to our islands, simply by following a mental map of sulfurous scents ingrained in their memory!
Continue reading the article on X2, a new website by Times of Malta.
Desirée Falzon is a naturalist and field teacher with BirdLife Malta.