Sightings or findings of stranded Scopoli’s Shearwater should be reported to Birdlife so they can be released safely back at sea, the organisation said.

It said in a statement that these secretive seabirds begin to fledge from their nests from within the cliffs for the first time at this time of the year.

Fledging at night, these young birds use the light of the horizon to guide them away from the coast. But light on land can disorientate them, causing them to become stranded inland and putting their survival in danger. The areas where they are usually found are Ħal Far, Xlendi, Ċirkewwa, Birżebbuġa, Ġnejna Bay, Marsalforn, and St Paul’s Bay.

A Scopoli Shearwater fledgling. Photo: Ben Metzger, Birdlife

The Scopoli’s Shearwater, the larger of the two shearwater species, has an estimated population of 4,500 pairs in Malta – about five per cent of the world breeding population.

This protected species of seabird, which can be recognised by its grey-brown back with white underbelly and yellow bill, can often be seen ‘shearing’ over the tops of waves.

The Scopoli’s Shearwater had been a focus of Birdlife’s EU Life + Malta Seabird Project which came to a successful close this year after securing Malta’s first eight marine Special Protection Areas and is set to also benefit from the conservation actions carried out in the current EU Life Arcipelagu Garnija Project.

In the event of finding a stranded chick, it should be placed gently in a cardboard box and kept in a quiet place.

Birdlife should then be called on 2134 7644 (office hours) or 7925 5697 (emergency out of office).