A study on seabirds in Gozo has been hampered after one bird was found shot dead and others went missing during a critical period in the incubation of the eggs.

The Cory’s Shearwaters colony is part of the EU LIFE+ Malta Seabird Project and a number of birds were under study.

One of a mating pair was found shot dead on the shore near its nest last week but researchers also noticed that up to four other birds from two different nests at the study site had disappeared. One of the nests was empty and the other one still contained an egg, BirdLife Malta said.

The Cory’s Shearwaters, also known as Ċiefa, are currently incubating and both the male and the female take it in turns to sit on their single egg. If a nest is found empty, it means the egg has been lost and the pair’s only breeding attempt for this year has failed.

An abandoned egg suggests that either one or both parent birds have died because during incubation one of them is always in the nest.

“The killing of the study birds in Gozo not only hampers the efforts of this EU project but also puts the whole colony in peril.

“Seabirds are already declining all around the world and direct persecution can only make their situation worse,” said Benjamin Metzger, chief researcher of the LIFE+ Malta Seabird Project.