Dinja Waħda, Birdlife Malta and Bank of Valletta’s environmental education programme screened a nature documentary for schoolchildren last Tuesday.

Disney’s The Crimson Wing was screened at the Eden Cinema’s St Julian’s and attended by 224 schoolchildren from three schools.

Five screenings will be held in total, and 1,500 schoolchildren from 28 schools are expected to watch them.

The Crimson Wing is a Disney Nature documentary focusing on the lives of lesser flamingos at their breeding grounds in Tanzania. The film follows an orphaned baby flamingo as it overcomes threats to its survival, eventually reaching adulthood and rejoining the flock.

This highlights the difficulties these birds face in the wild.

During the screening Dinja Waħda also launched a survey of six of Malta’s most common winter birds – the Spanish sparrow, white wagtail, robin, starling, black redstart, and Sardinian warbler, which will be carried out by schools over the coming weeks.

After learning how to identify these birds, schoolchildren will record the species present in their school grounds.

The survey results will be shared with all schools through a dedicated page on the BirdLife Malta website, and will also be used to produce a map for schoolchildren showing which birds are present in which local schools.

This Dinja Waħda event was supported by Disney Nature, KRS Malta, Ian De Cesare and the Eden Group.

Dinja Waħda is Bank of Valletta and Birdlife Malta’s environmental education program for primary schools, carried out in collaboration with the Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education.