Malta Pages - The Migration Pattern
The Migration of Birds of Prey through the Central Mediterranean
The Route South (in September)
The Route North (in April/May)
While a majority of migrating birds of prey may cross westward from Sicily into Tunisia in Autumn, many inexperienced birds appear to take a southerly route down the east coast of Sicily and cross a much larger expanse of water to Africa where their only chance for a stop is Malta.
Most raptors would need six hours of daylight to fly from Malta to Libya (335km), those arriving late in the day are forced to overnight. It is in the last two weeks of September each year that most raptors are seen on the island and this is when Birdlife Malta arranges an annual camp of volunteers to count the raptors and do everything possible to stop them being shot.
Most raptors would need six hours of daylight to fly from Malta to Libya (335km), those arriving late in the day are forced to overnight. It is in the last two weeks of September each year that most raptors are seen on the island and this is when Birdlife Malta arranges an annual camp of volunteers to count the raptors and do everything possible to stop them being shot.
During May more birds of prey funnel through the Strait of Messina from Sicily into Calabria than at any other location or at any other time of year in the Central Med. This is the best opportunity to count the raptors and numbers of species in an average year are given below.
It is important to remember that this is still just a sample rather than a total count of all birds using the flyway. It is probably the geography of the North African coastline that leads most birds to avoid the perilous island of Malta on their northbound journey. But twenty years ago birds of prey faced similar hazards when they crossed the Strait of Messina as they do today on Malta.
It is important to remember that this is still just a sample rather than a total count of all birds using the flyway. It is probably the geography of the North African coastline that leads most birds to avoid the perilous island of Malta on their northbound journey. But twenty years ago birds of prey faced similar hazards when they crossed the Strait of Messina as they do today on Malta.
Birds of prey are naturally scarce and any concentration comprises an unusual natural phenomenon. The Central Mediterranean, via Italy, Sicily and Malta, serves as a migration corridor for about 30,000 raptors each year as they move between their breeding grounds (in Europe) and wintering grounds (in Africa). But many more than this may have used the route prior to the 1960s when intense persecution commenced. There are larger migrations of broad-winged hawks through Gibraltar and the Middle East but the Central Med flyway is unique because it comprises the most direct route between Central Europe and Africa.
Because it is an area of concentration for many long and narrow-winged raptors such as falcons and harriers which can cross quite large expanses of sea (where there are no thermals) and normally migrate on a broad front. Over 1000 Marsh Harriers were recorded at one roost in Malta in September 2002. This is a
natural phenomenon of outstanding universal value and it is on these grounds that the Hawk and Owl Trust is motivating for Buskett Gardens (a major roost site on Malta) and possibly other sites of convergence along the route to be awarded World Heritage Status.
