of the uneP-rac/sPa symposium, 82 | Proceedings Hammamet - TunIsIa - 20 to 22 February 2015 “ Fifty years of seabird research and conservation in the maltese Islands: are we getting there? Joe Sultana, John J. borg, nicholas barbara & ben metzger BirdLife Malta, 57/28 Triq abate rigord street, Ta’ Xbiex XBX1120, Malta e-mail: joesultana@maltanet.net ABSTRACT seabird research and conservation were initiated in Malta after the foundation of the Malta Ornithological society (MOs, now BirdLife Malta) in 1962. at that time, the seabirds breeding in the Maltese Islands, namely scopoli’s shearwater Calonectris diomedea, Yelkouan shearwater Pufinus yelkouan, Mediterranean storm-Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus melitensis and Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis, were not afforded any form of legal protection. shooting excursions for scopoli’s shearwater at sea was one of the pastimes of the shooting fraternity. The important breeding sites of seabirds, such as Filla, Ta’ Ċenċ, Fungus rock and the south-western cliffs, which offer ideal habitat for them, were also not protected. Filla was frequently used as a bombing target by the British forces. Furthermore the status and breeding biology of seabird species in the islands were practically unknown and no research on these species had been ever carried out. after the members of the newly-established MOs ringing scheme started visiting Filla in 1968, mainly to assess and monitor the breeding seabirds’ population and ring the birds, MOs lobbied persistently against the use of Filla for bombing practices. In 1970 the society published Bird Studies on Filla to coincide with the ” irst european conservation Year and the practice was inally stopped. eventually Filla and Fungus rock were declared strict nature reserves and Ta’ Ċenċ was declared a bird sanctuary. seabirds became legally protected in 1980. In 1969 the largest Yelkouan shearwater colony was discovered at L-Irdum tal-Madonna on mainland Malta. since then other colonies of both shearwaters and stormpetrel were discovered and their breeding biology has been studied along the years. after Malta joined the eu, all the colonies have been included within the eu natura 2000 sites. studies were intensiied since 2006 with two eu LIFe projects. The aim of the irst eu LIFe project (2006-2010) was to reverse the population decline of the Yelkouan shearwater; the aim of the second project (2011-2015) was to identify Marine Important Bird areas around the Maltese islands. In spite of what has been carried out so far we are not there yet. There are still many gaps to ill in the conservation and research of seabirds. Lack of proper law enforcement; human disturbance, infestation of rats and the dearth of human and inancial resources are some of the prevailing problems. INTRODUCTION The Malta Ornithological society (MOs, conservation of Marine and coastal Birds in the Mediterranean BirdLife Malta since 1995) was founded in 1962. It was the irst environmental nGO in Malta. Its aims have been mainly the conservation and study of birds and their habitats. Before 1960, ornithological ield studies were virtually inexistent. no research on seabirds had ever been carried out. The status and distribution of Malta’s seabirds and their colonies, and their breeding biology was practically unknown. seabird research and conservation was initiated in Malta in the late 1960s by MOs. SEABIRDS PROTECTION seabirds breeding in the Maltese Islands were not afforded any form of legal protection. shooting for scopoli’s shearwater at sea was one of the pastimes of some hunters. along the years this species has been pushed by human interference to breed only at inaccessible sites. It could survive and breed in such a hostile environment mainly due to the inaccessibility of their nesting sites. BirdLife Malta campaigned unfailingly for the protection of shearwaters and inally they became legally protected in 1980. Protection of important breeding sites of seabirds, such as Filla, was also lacking. Filla was used as a bombing target by the British forces. research on Filla was initiated in 1968, mainly to assess and monitor the breeding seabirds’ population and to ring storm-petrels and scopoli’s shearwaters. In 1970, the society published an account of visits to Filla and their indings (sultana & Gauci 1970) to coincide with the irst european conservation Year. The publication highlighted the importance of the islet as a seabird colony. Finally the Maltese Government requested the British forces to stop the bombing practices. eventually Filla was declared a strict nature reserve and Ta’ Ċenċ was declared a bird sanctuary. More recently, compiling data on important bird areas in the Maltese Islands based on BirdLife International IBas criteria was initiated when Malta was in the process of joining the eu. eleven sites, ten of which host seabird colonies, were identiied. When Malta joined the eu in 2004, Birdlife Malta published the “Important Bird areas of eu importance in Malta” (Borg & sultana 2004). The eu Birds and Habitats Directives oblige the member states to declare many of their IBas and special Protected areas (sPas) under the natura 2000 scheme. now over 20% of the Maltese Islands are covered by nature protection legislation of some form and all seabird colonies fall within the natura 2000 sites. Table 1 shows the present status of seabird breeding populations in the Maltese Islands. species Present status/breeding population scopoli’s shearwater Calonectris diomedea Ca. 4500-5000 pairs; down from 7000 pairs in 2000-2004. colonies scattered mainly along the south-western cliffs - the largest at Ta’ Ċenċ, Gozo (ca. 1000 pairs). Yelkouan shearwater Pufinus yelkouan Ca. 1700 pairs (10% of the global population) scattered colonies along sea-cliffs - largest colony at L-Irdum tal-Madonna (ca. 500 pairs). up to 1970 bred on Filla. recently rediscovered still breeding on st. Paul’s Islands. Mediterranean storm-petrel Hydrobates pelagicus melitensis 5000-8000 pairs on Filla (one of the largest known colony in the Mediterranean). Few pairs at 3 other sites discovered in recent years. Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis Ca. 250 pairs (mainly on Filla - ca. 200 pairs). Table 1. The present status of the four sea-bird species found breeding in Malta (updated from sultana et al. 2011). | 83 of the uneP-rac/sPa symposium, 84 | Proceedings Hammamet - TunIsIa - 20 to 22 February 2015 RINGING STORM-PETRELS Way back in 1966, BirdLife Malta’s ringing scheme was set with the help of the British Trust for Ornithology. Filla was visited for the irst time in 1968 to investigate which seabird were still breeding on the island. This was the prelude of a long-term ringing and monitoring process of the Mediterranean storm-petrel Hydrobates pelagicus melitensis and ca. 28,000 adults were ringed up to year 2014, with about 5000 re-trapped at least once on the islet during subsequent visits; 26 birds have been recaptured more than 20 years after their ringing date. The oldest ive birds were recaptured as follows: two after 25 years, one after 26 years and two after 27 years; and one must bear in mind that these birds were ringed as adults (updated from sultana et al. 2011). ringing is a good scientiic tool for recaptures of birds at a colony, to study their longevity and to monitor a population. However, when it comes to recoveries beyond their colonies, the results are always relatively poor; and when a recovery occurs, ringing and recovery dates appear as snapshots, leaving information on the bird’s whereabouts in the time between the two events unknown. With a bit of swell it is almost impossible to land by boat on Filla, and the island was mainly visited between May and september. studying the breeding biology of this species is also very dificult due to the rugged terrain of the island. In fact it is impossible to locate the actual nesting sites in any signiicant number, so much so that the number of chicks ringed there is very low (65 pulli out of ca. 28,000 adult birds ringed). The recovery rate of the ringed birds is also very low. Only 12 birds were recovered beyond our seas. It has been suggested that the Mediterranean stormpetrels do not leave the Mediterranean (Hashmi & Fliege 1994), but two Fillaringed birds were recovered beyond the Mediterranean; one in the netherlands during a very strong storm and the other was found dead on the French atlantic coast. Movements between Mediterranean colonies highlight the fact that the gene-pool of the Mediterranean storm-petrel may not be as low as it was previously believed by Massa & sultana (1990–91). In fact one of the ringed birds was recovered at the colony on Marettimo Island while 4 Marettimo ringed birds were controlled on Filla (Table 2). ring no. age Date ringed ringing site Date recovered recovery site s4121 4 24.05.1986 Filla 20.02.1990 côte sauvage, La Tremblade, France s7347 4 15.06.1991 Filla 14.07.1996 Marettimo Island, sicily 2114213 4 10.07.1971 Filla 15.09.1989 ameland, strand, netherlands Kn03195 4 02.07.1994 Marettimo 02.07.1998 Filla K46821 1 16.07.1987 Marettimo 15.07.1989 Filla Kn14489 1 19.07.2003 Marettimo 10.08.2009 Filla Kn23938 1 23.08.2011 Marettimo 01.07.2012 Filla Table 2 . selected recoveries and/or controls of Mediterranean storm-petrels. conservation of Marine and coastal Birds in the Mediterranean Two small colonies of Mediterranean storm-petrel in Gozo, one at Ta’ Ċenċ and the other at Għarb, have been discovered relatively recently. The one at Ta’ Ċenċ was discovered during a survey of caves in 1994 (Borg & sultana 1992-94). Interestingly the breeding of storm-petrels in one of the caves at Ta’ Ċenċ was irst mentioned by the Gozitan scholar agius de soldanis in a manuscript in 1746. He described the birds correctly without knowing what the species was. The rediscovery of the birds in the area proves the resilience and faithfulness of this small long-lived pelagic bird to its ratfree breeding colonies. SCOPOLI’S SHEARWATERS STUDIES In the late 1960s, scopoli’s shearwater’s colonies were located to ring adults and young in the few accessible sites at cliffs. Then a long-term study was initiated in 1983. a total of 155 accessible nests at 17 sites were monitored for several years to study the species’ breeding biology (cachia Zammit & Borg 1986-87). This was a irst for Malta which disclosed several secrets in the fascinating life of the scopoli’s shearwater – their breeding behaviour, their longevity, their site tenacity and mate idelity, and their breeding success, amongst several other studies. It was found that its breeding success was relatively low, mainly due to direct human interference, although predation by rats, feral cats and hunting dogs also occurred to a lesser extent. EU LIFE YELKOUAN SHEARWATER PROJECT encouraged by the success to discover that the storm-petrel still existed on the islet of Filla in 1968, and providentially in large numbers, areas on mainland Malta which appeared to offer a good habitat for nesting requirements of the species were visited. It was then that, instead of inding storm-petrels, the largest Yelkouan shearwater colony was discovered at L-Irdum tal-Madonna in the northern part of the mainland. This was the prelude of regular monitoring of the site in preliminary studies, which helped to discover the species’ annual breeding cycle, amongst other things, and to collect various data, particularly from recaptures of the ringed birds (sultana et al. 2011). The data collected during several visits annually throughout a relatively long period of years monitoring the colony, facilitated the pre-requisites for the irst four-year eu LIFe Yelkouan shearwater Project to delve with further studies in the species behaviour and to help reverse its population decline caused principally by rat predation. This eu LIFe project, spearheaded by Birdlife Malta, and launched in 2007, was to be the largest conservation project of its kind in Malta. It set in motion an impressive list of measures both on land and at sea, each with speciic targets, but with the overall aim to reverse the decline of Yelkouan shearwaters in Malta, especially through the protection of L-irdum tal-Madonna. It provided a major breakthrough in the knowledge on the Yelkouan’s feeding and wintering areas and other aspects of its breeding biology (Borg et al. 2010, raine et al. 2011, 2012). The irst challenge was the eradication of rats from the cliffs. Two years into the project, a marked decline in rodents resulted in more birds in the area and higher breeding success. another target was locating the shearwaters’ main feeding areas for eventual designation as marine nature reserves. Birds were tagged with tracking devices, and areas of critical importance identiied. Other tasks high on the Project agenda were the raising of public awareness, control of human disturbance, and a model management plan for the protection of such sites. | 85 of the uneP-rac/sPa symposium, 86 | Proceedings Hammamet - TunIsIa - 20 to 22 February 2015 SCOPOLI’S SHEARWATERS TRACKING STUDIES During the Yelkouan shearwater project, opportunity was taken to carry out some tracking studies on foraging behaviour and post-ledging movements of scopoli’s shearwater. In 2009, an adult breeding female was tagged at Għar Lapsi with a GPs data logger to track the bird’s movements during the chick rearing stage. The tagged bird was retrieved nine days later when she came into the nest to feed the chick. The results from the data logger showed that the bird did not travel farther than just over 50km to the south of the island. This showed that more detailed work was needed to ascertain whether this was the overall pattern for this species. Initial studies have also been carried out regarding post-ledging movements, and in the same year three scopoli’s male chicks were itted with satellite tags before they ledged. The signals from two of the birds were received up to 27 and 38 days respectively after ledging; one when it was still in Maltese waters and the other after reaching the western side of the Mediterranean. The third bird continued transmitting for 44 days. The data received by the satellite tag showed that the bird spent the irst few weeks feeding off the northern coast of Tunisia and the Pelagian islands. In early november it headed west and on the 13th of november it sent a signal from the straits of Gibraltar showing that it was moving out of the Mediterranean. Then it continued southwards, following the coast of Morocco and Mauritania towards senegal where the signal was eventually lost (raine et al. 2011). SECOND FIVE-YEAR EU LIFE PROJECT since 2006 sea-bird studies has intensiied and the second ive-year eu LIFe project with the main aim to identify Marine Important Bird areas around the Maltese islands was in its inal year in 2015. The studies included boatbased observations, deployment of GPs loggers on a number of Yelkouan and scopoli’s shearwaters, and ixing tiny radio tags on storm-petrels, a irst for the Mediterranean (Metzger et al. 2015). YELLOW-LEGGED GULLS PREDATION OF STORM-PETRELS since 1970 storm-petrels on Filla started facing a voracious predator. The Yellowlegged Gull is presently mainly conined to the islet of Filla, where its population has also been monitored; counting adults and nests and checking the breeding success. apart from ringing the young birds, the impact of Yellow-legged Gulls on storm-petrels has been regularly assessed by checking the remains of birds taken by the gulls. 55% of the avian remains collected from regurgitations are in fact storm-petrels. around 160 Yellowlegged Gull pairs nest on Filla, mainly on the plateau surface. However in the last years the number of pairs nesting in the boulder scree below the cliffs inside the storm-petrel colony has increased, and signiicantly more storm-petrel remains are being found close to the nests of gulls nesting in the boulder scree (Metzger et al. in prep.). CONCLUSION In research and conservation of seabirds, one can never reach the end of the tunnel. It is always an uphill struggle. Monitoring seabirds can never be concluded. In spite of many years of seabird research there are still large gaps in our knowledge. These gaps need to be illed if one has to successfully address the problems these birds are facing and ensure their future conservation. In spite of what has been carried out so far we are not there yet. Lack of proper law enforcement; human disturbance, infestation of rats and the conservation of Marine and coastal Birds in the Mediterranean dearth of human and inancial resources are some of the prevailing problems. several questions may be answered by modern technology methods. But modern technology methods require substantial funds. seabird studies also require human resources, expertise and dedication. a lot of actions still remain to be carried out: · · · · · · · · Filling gaps in our knowledge of their breeding ecology and behaviour throughout the year. Monitoring regularly their populations and their colonies. Identifying the important bird areas at sea, particularly their feeding areas. eradicating rats from sites holding seabird colonies, and from areas which would otherwise provide suitable habitat for their nesting requirements. controlling any predators when found to be doing most harm to the colonies. Providing artiicial nesting sites at colonies to make up for the loss of natural nesting sites through erosion. Protecting colonies from any form of development and other harmful human activities. Investigating the negative impact of pollution. REFERENCES Borg J. J. &. cachia-Zammit r. (1995). Monitoring cory’s shearwater Calonectris diomedea colonies in a hostile environment Malta. Pp. 31–47 in Walmsley J.G., Goutner V., el Hili a. & sultana J. (eds), Ecologie des oiseaux marins et gestion intégrée du littoral en Méditerranée. IV symposium méditerranéen des oiseaux marins Hammamet 11–16 avril 1995. Les amis des Oiseaux & MeDMaraVIs, Tunis. Borg J.J., raine H., raine a.F. & Barbara n. 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