Reversing the damage

For many, the Maltese Falcon may recall the famous 1941 Hollywood production starring Humphrey Bogart or the infamous F-16 Falcon Jet Fighter.

But for many Maltese, the name had a different meaning; the top predator that dominated the Maltese skies for centuries. In times past, the Maltese Falcon (also known as the Peregrine) was so abundant in the Maltese islands that the Knights used to give two live birds to Charles V, one to be sent to the emperor and one to the viceroy in Sicily as a symbolic annual rent.

However, the last know breeding pair was recorded shot by Maltese poachers at Ta' Ċenc in the 1980s. This majestic bird's fate was shared by many other species like the Barn Owl, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Jackdaw and the famous Turtle Dove that could all easily breed in the Maltese islands.

In fact Malta, in spite of its ideal climate and habitat for these birds, is the only country in Europe and the Mediterranean, and probably in the world, that no longer has a single pair of breeding birds of prey thanks to decades of rampant illegal hunting.

Nevertheless, one would hope that the first spring without a legal hunting and trapping season would have started to have a positive impact on these species. To find out how many birds are actually breeding in Malta, BirdLife, together with the Rural Affairs Ministry and the British Trust for Ornithology, has launched an island-wide study on the breeding birds of the Maltese islands, as well as paying special attention to our farmland species which act as an important indicator of the health of the rural environment. The outcome of these surveys will be the first ever Malta Breeding Bird Atlas and the creation of the Farmland Bird Index, which is an EU requirement from all member states.

Farmland birds, such as Turtle Doves, Corn Buntings and Short-toed Larks, are important indicators of the health of the rural environment. They act a lot like the infamous 'canary in the coal mine', when miners in historical times used to take a canary into the mines with them and, if the canary started to act strangely, they knew that trouble, like poisonous gases, was close. This is also true of our farmland birds, as changes in their populations are indicative of the overall health of our rural countryside.

The Breeding Bird Atlas is the second output of the study, and is equally important. It will provide us with a baseline for monitoring the breeding distribution of all of our breeding species, be they common species such as the Spanish Sparrow, or rarer species such as the Spectacled Warbler. The 2008 Atlas will show us the breeding range of every breeding species in Malta.

These can then be compared in future Atlases, to allow us to see how each species is faring. It is only with information like this that we can accurately pin-point conservation problems before they reach the point of no return.

More than 25 Maltese and international ornithologists have spent over four months carrying out observations in Malta, Gozo, Comino and Filfla, making sure that all major habitat types are surveyed. All methods were carried out in a standardised way, using the same methodologies used throughout Europe, as outlined by the European Bird Census Council. By doing this, our results can then be compared with trends for these species throughout Europe as a whole.

The fieldwork is now over, and already interesting data is coming in. For example, this year Common Swifts have been recorded prospecting or breeding in a minimum of eight areas when the species previously was only recorded breeding in two known sites in the Maltese islands. Their colonies are a common sight in neighbouring Sicily, where they can be found breeding in most villages and cities.

Another interesting expansion of breeding distribution is the Collared Dove, a close relative of the Turtle Dove. Previously restricted to a breeding colony in the Santa Marija Estate, this species appears to have benefited from the first spring free of hunting. It has been recorded attempting to colonise several new locations in Malta and has even crossed the channel into Gozo. This year also saw the first confirmed successful breeding attempt by the Common Coot at Simar Nature Reserve and the first confirmed attempt at breeding by Black-winged Stilt at Għadira although unfortunately, the latter pair didn't produce offspring. Recent reports have now come in of up to two pairs of Water Rail exhibiting breeding behaviour in suitable breeding habitat.

This species has never been recorded breeding in Malta before, so we shall have to wait and see whether these birds successfully produce Malta's first ever Water Rail chicks. Reversing the damage caused by humans on wildlife is not an easy task. Before we see our islands being re-colonised by extinct breeders or new species, we will have to make sure that our impact, whether it is agricultural intensification, illegal hunting and trapping or false urbanisation, on our wildlife is taken under control and our much degraded countryside is given the necessary care.

This important survey will surely help us to identify the areas we will need to safeguard and actions we need to take, if we want to wake up one day to the sound of finches singing in the countryside (rather than in cages) or see the return of Maltese Falcons once again soaring over the Ta' Ċenċ cliffs.