Another rare and highly-protected Egyptian Vulture visits Malta

BirdLife Malta has said that another rare and highly-protected Egyptian Vulture roosted in Malta overnight  and left today.

The NGO added that “BirdLife Malta Raptor Camp volunteers ensured its safety until it continued with its migratory journey to Africa this morning.”

The rare and endangered bird arrived in Malta yesterday afternoon and after spending the night in the outskirts of Rabat, left safely early this morning to continue on its migratory journey.

BirdLife explained that unlike the Egyptian Vulture Leonardo, who visited Malta during the first week of September, yesterday’s bird does not appear to have been satellite-tagged and its arrival to Malta was therefore unannounced.

Leonardo, who had landed in Malta on September 3rd, was from an Italian conservation reintroduction programme and in this case it was being tracked thanks to a satellite tag.

Yesterday’s Egyptian Vulture was first seen coming in over Buskett and identified as a juvenile from its brownish colour. BLM said that it was followed by BirdLife Malta staff and camp volunteers.

“After it spent the night in the area, it was again sighted and followed early this morning until it left from the Dingli area,” the NGO said. “For the second time this month our Raptor Camp proved crucial to ensure the safety of such a highly-prized bird until it left the Maltese Islands.”

BirdLife Malta said that “during this year’s camp, teams of local and international volunteers visit various hunting hotspots around Malta and Gozo to watch over the migration of hundreds of protected species that migrate through the islands at this time of the year.”

BLM went on to say that “the Egyptian Vulture’s visit proves once again how important of a resting place Malta is for vulnerable birds.”

Juvenile birds like this one would have probably hatched in Italy, thanks to huge conservation efforts made there, and protecting it during its first ever migration to Africa is crucial to see this species making a comeback in Europe, the NGO said.

Juvenile Egyptian Vultures may spend a few years in Africa before returning as adults to Europe to breed, so protecting these young birds is an investment in their future.

The Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) is classified as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

It also happens to be one of the seven species whose epic migratory journey is being followed by BirdLife Europe and Central Asia’s FlightForSurvival campaign ^[1]. This bird is Europe’s only long-distance migratory vulture.

Photo: Arron Tanti; footage Alice Tribe and Paul Bray and video editing by Nathaniel Attard