You will see more than just pigeons if you look up at the sky in Valletta this month. If you happen to be in the city in the late afternoon and early evening, keep your eyes (and ears) open for one of its winter wildlife highlights – the return of thousands of White Wagtails (Zakak Abjad – Motacilla alba alba) to the Ficus trees in Great Siege and St John’s squares.

As sunset approaches, these small insect-eating songbirds pour over the bastions from west, south and east, heading for the communal roosts where they spend the night. Early in the morning they leave again, going out to forage for food.

This pattern is repeated throughout the months they spend here, between October and March, escaping from the cold winter of their northern breeding grounds.

Scientific ringing studies carried out by Birdlife Malta have revealed that wagtails that spend the winter in Malta come from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Denmark and Sweden, among other European countries.

It is not widely known that the area of Valletta where these birds roost is a national Important Bird Area, due to the number of wagtails making their home in the city’s trees each winter. Birdlife Malta ornithologists and volunteers have monitored the numbers of wagtails roosting in Valletta since 1999.

Denis Cachia, who coordinates the annual wagtail surveys in Valletta, says the importance of towns and cities for wildlife is rarely recognised: “Valletta’s winter roosts of wagtails are an example of how even our urban areas can be of great value, providing habitats for birds. Unfortunately they are often overlooked, and lack of sensitive management of urban habitats can have a detrimental effect on wildlife.”

Wagtails are not at all put off by the noise and activity of towns and cities

In past years, the pruning of trees in the squares has been a problem for the birds, as it has been carried out without permits and at the wrong time of year, removing the dense foliage in which the birds seek shelter for the night.

This year, Birdlife Malta has installed signs on the trees in Valletta to inform people about their importance for birds.

There are presently no other known roosting sites of the White Wagtail on the island of Malta. This means birds that feed during the day in distant locations like Mellieħa, Mtaħleb, Dingli or Birżebbuġa all go to Valletta each evening to spend the night there. In Gozo, the birds have their own roost site, situated in Victoria.

White Wagtails, like Starlings and Spanish Sparrows, have a special affinity for the tall, bushy-leaved Ficus trees that often grow in towns and villages. However, they also roost in another type of tree in Gozo and on a single Cypress tree in Great Seige Square, Valletta.

Unlike many less gregarious birds, White Wagtails are not at all put off by the noise and activity of towns and cities. But aggressive pruning destoys or damages the birds’ only safe roosts.

Birdlife Malta’s conservation manager Nicholas Barbara hopes that increasing awareness among the public will help to ensure that these birds and the trees they use are looked after: “We hope that local councils and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, that issue permits for pruning, will take note of the value of their trees for overwintering wagtails and ensure that pruning, if and when necessary, is carried out prudently only after the birds have left for the summer.”

Birdlife Malta welcomes any in­for­mation from the public on possible White Wagtail roosting sites outside the known sites of Valletta and Victoria. Such information may be e-mailed to info@birdlifemalta.org.

www.birdlifemalta.org