Data logging to follow the birds movements

This June, the team pushed back the boundaries of seabird research in the Maltese islands when they  recovered an electronic tag from a Yelkouan Shearwater at the project site, Rdum tal-Madonna. This is the first time this species has been tagged with a special device called a data logger and the successful recovery of the tag will result in invaluable data for the scientific community.  The bird had been fitted with the tag three days previously by BirdLife and Heritage Malta scientists and the team were delighted to catch it again so that the crucial data about these birds could be retrieved.

Project Manager Helen Raine explains, “This is an important development for the project and the scientific community in Europe. To our knowledge no-one has ever fitted this species with a data logger before so it was impossible to guarantee that the technology would work. Yelkouan Shearwaters can dive to up to 30 metres and also travel long distances so we were hoping that the loggers would be able to withstand the pressure. It was a very satisfying moment when the bird came back with the logger and even better when we confirmed that the tag had recorded data.”

Through their research, the LIFE project team hope to ascertain exactly where the birds are feeding so that these areas can be protected more effectively in the future. The birds face a variety of potential threats at sea including possible accidental catching on long-line fishing equipment. The data generated by the project will help to ensure that these threats are minimised. Malta has around 10% of the world’s population of this species so this work is particularly important at an international level.

John J. Borg from the National Museum of Natural History (Heritage Malta) and Dr. André Raine from BirdLife Malta had carried out extensive fieldwork before fitting the bird with the tag. The bird was monitored for several weeks to ensure that it was healthy and returning to its nest regularly. The birds only return to their nests in darkness which meant overnight stays on the cliffs to monitor them. All the hard work was worth it though as the data provided by the tag will be invaluable.

The data loggers are advanced pieces of technology.  These light weight devices record the compass location of the bird every two seconds for up to eight days. They also record the outside temperature which can be used to ascertain whether the bird is diving or flying. They are remarkably accurate and can pinpoint where the bird went to within a kilometre or so. The team will spend the next few weeks analyzing the results.