On Monday morning, an adult Greater Flamingo, Phoenicopterus roseus, arrived at Salina saltpans, near St Paul’s Bay. ALE officers and BirdLife Malta staff are standing guard over the bird, which is highly prized by poachers, especially in its bright pink breeding plumage.

The flamingo can be easily seen from the coast road next to the saltpans and passing members of the public have been able to enjoy watching the bird as it feeds in the shallow water, and sleeps, tucking its head under one wing (Flamingos sleep standing up- not always on one leg).

Salina is a magnet for flamingos visiting Malta as they travel between their breeding and feeding grounds around the Mediterranean, thanks the ideal conditions of the shallow salty lagoon and mud flats, but it is far from being a safe haven.

BirdLife Malta said that last autumn, Salina was visited by an adult Greater Flamingo and three juveniles (her offspring), which probably roosted in the area. “At the time, local residents reported hearing gunshots in the middle of the night and the four birds were not seen again.

“On another occasion, two injured juvenile flamingos that had been shot by a man hunting from the coast at Qawra Point landed in the vicinity of the saltpans. Although BirdLife Malta staff and voluteers, together with the ALE and AFM, rescued both birds, they later died of their injuries.”

BirdLife Malta and the ALE will continue to keep a watch over the bird while it remains in the saltpans and local residents are encouraged to help by keeping an eye on the flamingo and reporting any suspicious activity to the police.

BirdLife concluded, “it would be a terrible shame to lose another of these stunning birds, which don’t come to Malta that often, to poachers, when we should be enjoying seeing it while it is here and wishing it luck when it continues its migration.”

Photo – by BirdLife Malta Rupert Masefield..

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