Ringing studies have revealed links between Malta and 48 other countries, from as far north as Norway and as far south as South Africa.
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| Birds travelling over Malta come from at least 48 other countries. Source: BirdLife Malta. |
Malta is located on the central Mediterranean flyway, one of the three main flyways used by birds to travel between Africa and Europe. This is the only route where birds must cross a large body of water on their migration. When flying over land, birds such as raptors glide on rising bodies of hot air, however over the sea these birds need to expend a lot of energy beating their wings in flight. This is very exhausting and makes the few islands where birds can stop, feed and regain their strength invaluable as resting and refueling spots. The same is true for smaller migratory species that use these areas to seek refuge from sudden storms or high winds. The Maltese archipelago is one of the few places on this route where birds can do so.
If some of the resting bird species find suitable habitat and conditions, they may decide to end their migration and use Malta as their wintering ground. On the other hand, birds returning northward from Africa may decide to stay in Malta to breed. Amongst the species that end their northern migrations in Malta and remain to breed are Little Ringed Plover, Common Swifts and Barn Swallows among others.
Malta has 29 breeding bird species – some resident year-round and some found only during the breeding season.
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| Source: Sean Gray |
Historically the islands have been host to many more regularly breeding species, including the Serin, Linnet, Common Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Barn Owl and Eurasian Jackdaw, among others. However, intense illegal hunting and/or trapping has led to the local disappearance of these target species.