A Complete Guide To The Birds Of Malta
Natalino Fenech
Midsea Books pp 448
ISBN-13: 9789993273103
Natalino Fenech’s new book A Complete Guide To The Birds Of Malta is much more than a complete guide to Maltese avifauna. Compiling and critically analysing all that is known about the bird species connected with the Maltese islands, he includes voluminous information on all the aspects of Maltese activities that have influenced the shaping of the present status of Malta’s resident and migratory birds.
Written in a style of English that reads flowingly, the book retains at the same time that special Maltese atmosphere that leaves the reader never in doubt that it is dealing with the local migratory/resident bird phenomenon.
There is hardly an aspect directly or indirectly connected with Malta’s winged fauna that has been left out. Analysing in depth the various topics, Dr Fenech actually goes where nobody dared to go before. He takes the reader on a leisurely trip through the centuries showing the various stages reached by successive generations in their awareness and appreciation of the avian world surrounding them. Quoting top politicians, renowned ornithologists, enlightened hunters, and a host of other personalities, the author immerses his readers in the historical denouement of a living drama concerning the birds of our country and its human protagonists.
There are, to be sure, one or two slip-ups here and there, mainly attributable to the author allowing himself to be carried away by exuberant enthusiasm. The most serious concerns one of the three main migratory routes that narrow-front migrants take to cross the Mediterranean Sea. While Dr Fenech affirms the well-known ornithological fact that “another passageway is through the central Mediterranean from Cap Bon in Tunisia through Italy,” (pg 146), there is unfortunately no accompanying map to complement his factual assertion. Instead, the map shown seems a distortion of fact. In the Map of Europe showing generic patterns of migration for broad-winged migrants (pg 144) the migratory path from the Tunisian Cap Bon peninsula is left totally unmarked, and a wide shaded line starts from an unknown point on the Tunisian coast to eastern Sicily with Malta at its centre! Ornithologists unfamiliar with the pattern of Maltese bird migration will need to be cautious in their acceptance of such details.
They may harbour some doubt regarding Dr Fenech’s assumed wide-ranging conclusion, reached on the basis of a few Wader bird-ringing records, that “birds landing in Malta in spring tend to spend up to some four to six days”. They may need also to weigh carefully certain wording whose meaning is not to be taken literally. For example, Dr Fenech writes: “Turtle doves are very common from late March to early June in spring …” (pg 306). However, it is a fact that turtle doves are not at all “very common” in late March or in early June. On page 145 he records the Ruff as “flying at speeds of about 330 km per day” which, given that some birds can fly non-stop for hours and even days on end, does not mean that this particular bird was travelling at an abnormal speed, but only that it covered a considerable distance.
These rare instances aside, Dr Fenech’s book is a treasure trove of knowledge for all bird-scientists interested in the birds occurring on Malta and its islands. Ornithologists studying Mediterranean bird migration would do well to consult it.
For the first time, a book about the birds of Malta sees also the positive side of Maltese hunting. Describing his own baptism-of-fire conversion, Dr Fenech shows how the first stirrings of love for the birds in the hearts of many Maltese bird conservationists invariably arose from their associations with hunting.
The useful contribution made to the study of birds by Maltese taxidermists and collectors comes through. The author uses detailed records and meticulous notes kept by keen sportsmen to extrapolate information, demonstrating how hunting has added considerably to our present-day knowledge. He acknowledges the existence of a growing number of hunter/conservationists, and his book distinctly encourages them to continue their efforts.
Dr Fenech goes painstakingly through the gamut of Maltese hunting and trapping, providing a wide spectrum of everything connected with the “passions” of shooting and live-bird trapping, including Maltese folklore and sayings. The writer vindicates the efforts made by the hunting federation (FKNK) and the St Hubert Hunters (KSU) in defending hunters’ interests, and acknowledges that their unequivocal condemnation of hunting/trapping illegalities serves as a clear signal to all hunters. For a conservationist, Dr Fenech makes a quantum leap when he recognises the strong social dimensions of the hunting (shooting and trapping) culture in Malta. He provides a glimpse of how a few enlightened hunters tried to effect the necessary changes for hunting to be practised the proper way. Some anecdotes are retold, but this is done in such a way that the reader enjoys the second rendering. A far cry from the earlier controversial publication by the same author, this book is replete with dozens of historical facts on hunting and trapping, in print for the first time, which should be of great interest to all hunters worthy of the name.
Written in understandable layman’s language, with a refreshingly exciting format, and with around 900 illustrations mainly in colour, the book also offers a fantastic opportunity for every literate person to learn more about the birds of the Maltese islands. Of interest also to lovers of Maltese history and folklore, this publication should definitely grace the shelves of all Melitensia enthusiasts. Dr Fenech is to be congratulated for a book that provides not only a highly pleasurable long read but also serves as an encyclopaedic source of reference for many years to come.