Malta leads global research on secretive seabird
The LIFE Project partnership
A four-year EU funded conservation project has succeeded in increasing the population trend of one of the Mediterranean’s most threatened sea birds, the Yelkouan Shearwater, of which Malta hosts an estimated 10 per cent of the global population.
Conservation work carried out at the Rdum tal-Madonna cliffs in Mellieha, the nesting place of a third of Malta’s Yelkouans, has stopped the population decline and improved the population trend of the species by an estimated (further) 10 per cent. The EU LIFE Yelkouan Shearwater Project (Pro?ett Garnija) has also recorded world-first footage of the most intimate moments of this highly secretive bird and utilised tracking technology never used before on the species. The resulting information on the birds’ nesting, mating and migrating behaviour has placed Malta as a leader in seabird conservation and research.
The project, backed by a strong partnership of government, the private sector and conservation organisations, tackled a number of threats at the Rdum tal-Madonna EU protected site in Mellieha, and succeeded in reversing the decline the seabird had suffered in recent years. The threat from predator rats that decimated the yearly attempts of each breeding pair to raise a single chick was eliminated in 2007. Vigilance at the site from project staff, boosted by AFM patrols at sea, decreased illegal hunting incidences while disturbance to the breeding colony was managed through a Notice to Mariners aimed at controlling light and noise pollution during the night, when birds visit the colony.
The Natura 2000 site that was the focus of the project has now set standards for the management of similar protected sites around Malta. Management plans developed for the area by international experts can now serve as a model for the protection of similar sites around Malta where the necessary management plans are not yet in place. The plans developed for Rdum tal-Madonna are based on internationally recognised methodology that can easily be adopted by government for implementation at other sites of national importance.
The EU LIFE Yelkouan Shearwater project will also lead to the compilation of an inventory of candidate Important Bird Areas for the Yelkouans in Maltese waters thanks the research work of the project.
Rafting sites, areas where the birds congregate awaiting nightfall to return to their nests, have been found to extend up to 7km offshore. Tracking devices fitted to adults during the breeding seasons of 2008 and 2009 also showed the birds may wander off up to 285km offshore, using fishing grounds off the south east of Malta up to the Sicilian coast. Adults were recorded coming in to feed the bird every few nights, sharing their fresh catch of fish caught kilometers offshore.
This year the project team also followed the growth of a young Yelkouan Shearwater chick, from a few days after it hatched in May to just a few days ago. At this time of year, the grown chicks start to venture out of their burrow, practicing their wings in preparation for their migration eastwards. All birds leave their colonies in July, only to start returning around October.
Tracking both young and adults has shown that most of the young birds settle in the Aegean Sea, whereas adults may go further east into the Black Sea. Upon their return to Malta, the birds nest communally, occupying the same spots year after year, within shared galleries of inter-connecting crevices.
An infrared camera fitted within one of the burrows along the cliff face, within which these seabirds typically nest, has recorded world-first footage of the birds’ most intimate moments. The project team today revealed the first ever recorded mating behaviour of a pair of Yelkouan Shearwaters at one of the communal entries into the colony.
“The results of this successful partnership now relies on the respective government departments to build on the future of this LIFE project, by allocating the necessary funds for the conservation of the site, and recognize the protection of important marine sites for Yelkouan Shearwaters. A report outlining the first Marine Important Bird Areas for Malta will be issued in the coming months,” said Nicholas Barbara, Project Manager of the LIFE project.