News | Wednesday, 02 December 2009

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Maltese seabird travels to Senegal

While numerous irregular migrants were busy making their way towards Malta from Subsaharan Africa, at least one local resident was busy travelling over 4,500 km towards Subsaharan Africa from Malta - namely, a young Cory’s Shearwater, equipped with a satellite tag, which is currently off the coast of Senegal in West Africa.
The Cory’s Shearwater is a resident breeding seabird, and this particular specimen hatched in Malta earlier this year. It is being monitored through the EU Life Yelkouan Shearwater project, which tracked the bird via satellite when it left its nest at Hal Far on 12 October to begin its epic first journey.
The most recent satellite transmission puts it 138 km off the coast of Senegal.
“This is the first ever record of a young Maltese seabird leaving the Mediterranean Sea for the Atlantic Ocean and this discovery was made possible by the EU LIFE Project’s scientific team,” Dr Andre Raine said, BirdLife Malta’s Conservation Manager.
The data transmitted by the satellite tag showed that the seabird spent the first few weeks feeding off the northern coast of Tunisia and the Pelagian islands. In early November it headed west, first via the southern coast of Sardinia before journeying on towards Spain.
At 11:16 on 13 November it sent a signal from the Straits of Gibraltar and then continued southwards, following the coast of Morocco and Mauritania towards Senegal.
The journey of the young Cory’s Shearwater is entirely different from that shown by the LIFE project for the Yelkouan Shearwater – a related but rarer species which also breeds in Malta.
Ten young Yelkouans were equipped with satellite tags by the project team over the last two years, and these went eastwards instead of west.
The data collected from young Yelkouans show that the Aegean Sea is particularly important for many of these birds after they fledge, and they can spend several months in this area feeding along coastal waters.
“Our work with satellite tags is showing that shearwater conservation in Malta does not stop at home,” Dr Raine continued. “Seabirds throughout the world often range over very large distances when not at their nesting sites and conservation work needs to consider these migration stop-overs and wintering grounds as well as breeding areas. This really shows the wider international context of seabird conservation for Malta, and puts Malta firmly on the map for seabird research.”
The EU LIFE Yelkouan Shearwater project is a partnership of four governmental bodies in Malta and three conservation NGOs. The project is 50% sponsored by the EU Life Unit with additional support from MEPA and HSBC.

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