Monday, 2 May 2016, 13:27
Last
update: about 1 day ago
The first successful breeding of
the Short-eared Owl (Kokka tax-Xaghri, Asioflammeus) in more than 100
years has been recorded in Malta, BirdLife said. Birdwatchers and field
ornithologists Ray Galea, Alvin Farrugia, Daniel Bonnici, Steve ZammitLupi and
Nick Galea of BirdLife Malta have observed the pair of adults displaying
territorial behaviour which normally indicates a breeding attempt.
While monitoring these birds from
a distance to make sure there is the least possible disturbance, the
birdwatchers recorded enough evidence to confirm this record. A few weeks ago a
young fledged chick was also photographed (1). The location is temporarily not
being disclosed for the safety of these birds although it would be safe to
state that the bird has bred in a bird sanctuary, a protected area where no
hunting is allowed.
Naturalist Giuseppe Despott had
noted two breeding records in the vicinity of Siggiewi and WiedZnuber on May
1906 and May 1909 respectively. Seventy four years later, in 1983, a nest with
five eggs was recorded on Comino but it failed to hatch since the nest was
abandoned. Short Eared Owls are bird of prey that feed on rodents
mainly rats and mice and normally hunt during dusk and dawn. These birds
are normally seen migrating in spring and in autumn, with a few attempting to
winter on the Maltese Islands.
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