Tagged Egyptian Vultures drown crossing the Med

When Regina, and then Lom – two of the three captive bred Egyptian Vultures released this year in Bulgaria – crossed from Turkey to Cyprus on their migration south, our hearts sunk. We knew already that about 70% of all tagged wild nestlings from the Balkans ended up drowning in the Med in their first migratory journey, and 3 of the 6 Egyptian vultures the VCF and CERM released last year in southern Italy also did not make it to the southern shores of the Med, falling into the sea. 

We were hoping that Regina – the first bird to migrate, and then Lom – would follow the Turkish coast, but she unfortunately flew from Antalya to Cyprus on the 8th of September. After roosting on the western coast of Cyprus, she left her night perch quite early, between 6:00 and 7:00, and continued her migration south entering again into the sea through Akrotiri Peninsula at 10:00 – from there the distance to the nearest coast is 240 km. For 6 hours she flew over 190 km and at 16:00 she was only some 50 km from the Lebanese coast, but rather than flying east, she continued to fly over the sea some more 130 km in a southwestern direction and finally fell into the water, probably exhausted, at 20:00, just 25 km from the coast of Tel Aviv... 

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Eight million birds killed illegally at 20 Mediterranean locations each year

By Stuart Butchart, Fri, 04/03/2016 - 11:35

Scientists from BirdLife International estimate that 20 locations in the Mediterranean may be responsible for eight million individual birds being illegally killed or taken alive each year.

In the paper Preliminary assessment of the scope and scale of illegal killing and taking of birds in the Mediterranean published this week in the scientific journal Bird Conservation International, the authors present a detailed analysis of how many birds and of which species are impacted, where the 20 worst locations are and why different species are targeted in each country. The report was previewed in the BirdLife review The Killing, published in August last year.

“We were shocked to discover that 25 million individuals of over 450 species are estimated to be illegally killed or taken alive in the Mediterranean region per year, mainly for food (to be eaten as a delicacy or sold for profit), sport and for use as cage birds or hunting decoys,” Dr Anne-Laure Brochet, lead author of the report, said. “Importantly, eight million birds are estimated to be killed or taken at just 20 locations. Given the uncertainty around these numbers because of the difficulty in documenting illegal activities, the total could be anywhere from five to 11 million.”

These 20 places are found in just four countries: Cyprus, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria. They include the Famagusta area of Cyprus, where 400,000-1 million individual birds are illegally killed or taken each year, and the El Manzala area of Egypt, where 30,000-1.1 million individuals birds are illegally killed or taken each year.

The highest estimates of birds illegally killed or taken in the Mediterranean region were for Italy (3-8 million birds), Egypt (300,000-11 million) and Syria (3-5 million), while the density of illegal killing/taking was highest in Malta (18-667 birds per year per sq km), Cyprus (146-351 birds per sq km) and Lebanon (161-335 birds per sq km).

“It was disturbing to find that despite the positive impact of EU legislation, half of the top 10 countries with the highest levels of illegal killing are Member States of the EU. This indicates the need for greater effort to ensure that the EU Birds Directive is fully implemented at national level,” said Willem Van den Bossche, co-author of the paper and Flyway Conservation Officer for Europe and Central Asia at BirdLife Europe.  

The birds affected by illegal killing include the Blackcap (1.2-2.4 million individuals per year), European Turtle-dove (300,000-900,000 individuals per year) and Song Thrush (700,000-1.8 million individuals per year), among many others.

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Conservationists appalled at illegal killing of 25m birds a year in the Mediterranean

Glued, poisoned, trapped, shot – a shocking report reveals enforcement failure at a colossal scale as hunters across southern Europe and the Middle East kill birds with impunity

John Vidal

Wednesday 26 August 2015 14.57 BSTLast modified on Thursday 27 August 201500.03 BST

The Egyptians line their beaches with fine two-metre high nets that can stretch for miles across the Nile delta and will catch any bird coming close; the Maltese will cover whole trees in nylon; the Cypriots smear branches in glue to stop birds flying; the Italians will kill nearly anything that flies and the French like to set metal traps for small birds.

But the sheer scale of the cruelty of the illegal wild bird killings around the Mediterranean which was revealed last week has shocked conservationists and bird lovers across Europe.

According to the first study of its kind, which has attempted to put a realistic number on how many birds are killed illegally each year, possibly 25 million chaffinches, thrushes, robins, quails and many other species are being shot, trapped or poisoned as they migrate to and from mainland Europe.

But what has shocked most is that strong laws have been shown not to be working and are being openly flaunted by hunters. Nearly half the 25m killings occur in EU states where the birds directive applies, and many other Mediterranean countries also ban the hunting of songbirds.

British ornithologist and conservationist Bill Oddie this week blamed hunting groups and complicit bureaucrats for what he says is a massive failure of governments and the authorities to act.

“Around half the birds being killed are in countries where strong laws theoretically protect birds,” said Oddie. “The figures are shocking and it’s getting worse. Hunting groups in many countries are stopping the laws being enforced. Many people in the EU probably know or actually are shooters. People in power like killing things.”

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Alarming amounts of plastic found in Mediterranean seabirds

A new study has discovered that 94 per cent of Cory’s shearwaters on the Catalan coast have ingested plastic. In the case of Yelkouan and Balearic shearwaters, the conclusion is that 70 per cent of studied birds were similarly affected. Jacob González Solís from the Department of Animal Biology and the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) of the University of Barcelona (UB), headed a research group that carried out the study, published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin. 

Plastic pollution is known to be a threat for marine ecosystems around the world, but it has not yet been extensively studied. Solís explained that, “this is the first assessment of plastic ingestion in Mediterranean seabirds. The Mediterranean Sea has been recognised as a singularly sensitive ecosystem because its coast is very industrialised, shipping activity is intense and it contains high density floating plastic areas.”

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