The initial results of the European Union's Life Yelkouan Shearwater Project show that one of the two chicks fitted with a satellite tag has travelled as far as Greece and the other as far as Crete.
Although contact has been lost with the first, the second doubled back rather than heading to the Black Sea, where large numbers of Yelkouan shearwaters congregate.
Meanwhile, a data logger on four adult birds confirmed that the birds cover long distances to feed. Most head southeast to the continental shelf. Another bird hugged the coast of the island, undertaking a round trip before heading north.
A geolocator leg tag was attached to 12 adults. The information on their movements can be downloaded from the tag once the bird returns to the island.
The aim of the project is to identify areas around the Maltese islands that are considered important to the Yelkouan shearwater and then designating them as Marine Special Protection Areas according to the Birds Directive and discovering the species' wintering grounds.
This is the first time that such extensive research on this species was carried out and it is therefore of importance at an international level.
Birdlife Malta and Heritage Malta scientists have attached electronic tags to Yelkouan shearwaters nesting at Rdum Il-Madonna, a Special Protection Area (SPA) and a Special Conservation Area (SCA). The cliffs are situated in an area known as L-Aħrax tal-Mellieħa, between Għadira and Armier.
Malta is home to about 10 per cent of the world's near-threatened species population and the cliffs house around one third of the island's Yelkouan shearwater population during the breeding season.
Notwithstanding the deep crevices housing the nests, scientists could reach the cliffs from the sea and abseil to the crevices with the assistance of the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM).
"It has taken nights on ledges and in caves in the cliffs at the project site during the breeding season to gather these results," said John J. Borg, from Heritage Malta, one of the project partners who spent numerous nights at the cliffs at Rdum tal-Madonna. "However, this challenging work has started to bear fruit and we hope that we will have substantial data about these birds and their breeding grounds in the centre Mediterranean."
"More research is needed to understand the patterns of the birds' behaviour and relate this to important fishing and rafting areas for these seabirds. However, the project has made a huge leap forward in the understanding of Yelkouan shearwaters, taking us closer to protecting these long-ranging Maltese birds at sea," Helen Raine, the manager of the EU Life Yelkouan Shearwater Project, noted.
www.lifeshearwaterproject.org.mt