Filfla is home to the largest colony of the secretive Storm-petrel in the Mediterranean with up to 8,000 breeding pairs.
BirdLife Malta said that it has been studying the Storm-petrel population on Filfla since the late 60s.
The NGO, in a statement said that more secrets are being revealed about this smallest secretive seabird breeding in the Mediterranean, which is not much bigger than a sparrow.
First time movements of a Malta-ringed Storm-petrel to the Aegean Sea have been recorded by BirdLife Greece. A Storm-petrel ringed in 2008 by BirdLife Malta on Filfla was recovered in a colony on a Greek islet a few days ago, meaning that the bird is over 11 years old.
BirdLife Malta said that this is a great discovery for the most enigmatic bird of the Aegean Sea since the connection between the Storm-petrel populations in the Aegean and in the Central Mediterranean Basin has become evident for the very first time.
In the same week, BirdLife Malta ringers on a research visit to Filfla recaptured a bird first ringed on the same islet in 1991, making it over 29 years old, “the bird was even older than the ringer that handled it,” said BLM.
But even this is not a record…back in 2013 a Storm-petrel ringed in 1981 was recovered, making it over 32 years old.
BirdLife Malta concluded by saying, that with its partners like the Hellenic Ornithological Society (HOS) the NGO will continue to strive for the conservation of seabirds in the Mediterranean to ensure that species like the Mediterranean Storm-petrel continue being able to live so long.
The Mediterranean Storm-Petrel recovered in a Greek colony, first ringed on Filfla in 2008 (Photo by Hellenic Ornithological Society-BirdLife Greece)