Eight birds released back into the wild after being rehabilitated HD

At the end of October and the beginning of November, over a period of two weeks, BirdLife Malta released no less than eight protected birds which were rehabilitated after being rescued by members of the public and police during the previous weeks and months. Some of these birds were recovered after being shot whilst others had to be assisted after being found weak from migration. The first two protected species which were released back into the wild on Thursday 25th October 2018 were two Honey Buzzards (Kuċċard in Maltese) which had been recovered in September 2017 and September 2018 respectively, both illegal hunting casualties. The two raptors were released on Comino, a protected bird sanctuary. The first Honey Buzzard which was found on 21st September last year in Girgenti was confirmed shot with a broken wing, while the second was found on the 22nd of September of this year in Siġġiewi. Even this bird was confirmed shot and it had pellets in its body and wings. The next bird to be released following a period of rehabilitation was a White-fronted Goose (Wiżża tal-Maskra) which was successfully released back into the wild at BirdLife Malta’s Simar Nature Reserve on the morning of Friday 26th October 2018. This quite rare bird species was found by Administrative Law Enforcement (ALE) police officers in Marsaxlokk on 18th October 2018 and it was confirmed shot with pellets in the head and a damaged beak. It was the first time BirdLife Malta recovered one of these birds with shotgun injuries. On the same day, Friday 26th October 2018, in the afternoon, it was the turn of two Greater Flamingos and a Eurasian Spoonbill to be released, this time at our other nature reserve in Għadira. The first Greater Flamingo (Fjamingu) was found by police on 22nd August 2018 at Fomm ir-Riħ and it was weak because of dehydration. The second flamingo recovered from Mġarr, Gozo on 14th September 2018 was also weak and suffering from diarrhoea. Together with these two birds, we also released a Eurasian Spoonbill (Paletta) which was retrieved from the airport on 16th October 2018. Unlike the flamingos, this spoonbill was confirmed shot with pellets found in its body and wings. ALE officers were present at Għadira Nature Reserve for this release. On Sunday 4th November 2018 a rehabilitated Grey Heron was released, again at Għadira Nature Reserve, following the go-ahead by the government vet. The Grey Heron (Russett Griż) was found in Mellieħa a few days before – on 27th October 2018 – suffering from gunshot injuries. An X-ray by the vet revealed the bird had pellets in the body and microfractures in one of its wings. The last bird to be released back into the wild was another protected bird of prey which was also recovered in October 2018 after being illegally shot at. The Marsh Harrier (Bagħdan Aħmar) was found by a member of the public on 5th October in Kalafrana and it was confirmed that the raptor was shot, with a pellet found in its breast. After undergoing a