Three spring migrants satellite-tagged this May by BirdLife Malta will reveal “the plight and might of this vulnerable species,” the organisation said.

In a statement BLM said that this is another phase in its Turtle-dove satellite-tagging project which is enabling them to study the remarkable migration of the Turtle-dove (Gamiema) to “understand better what role Malta plays in the migration of this bird in dire need of conservation efforts.”

At the beginning of May BirdLife Malta fitted the three spring migrants with satellite tags with the aim of tracking the migratory movements of these birds.

The three birds named Marija, Hope and Virginijus were released on Comino. BirdLife said that although they purposely satellite-tagged them after the end of this year’s spring hunting season, satellite transmission for the first one went completely dead immediately after she was released, “raising fears that she was illegally shot down.”The other two, however, are now in Italy where they seem to have settled for the breeding season and the last satellite signals show that one is near Agrigento in Sicily whilst the other is on the Lazio coast.

Marija, tagged on the 1st May, crossed over to Gozo and spent the night in the northern part of the island. Her last position was registered on the morning of the 2nd May just before 7am, following which, BirdLife said that its satellite transmission went completely dead.

The organisation said that “given reports of illegal hunting on Gozo received from the same day, we very much fear Marija was illegally shot down on Gozo before she could continue on. Accordingly the country of origin of this bird shall remain unknown.”Hope, as she was appropriately named, was ringed and tagged on the 4th May, with the hope that she would not meet the same fate and migrate on, BLM said. The female Turtle-dove remained on Comino and spent the night resting there before heading north to Gozo possibly during the day of the 5th May.

Following that, she left the northeastern part of Gozo northwards, migrating through the night and reaching the southeastern coast of Sicily by the morning of the 6th of May.

BirdLife said that much to their surprise, Hope has pretty much stayed put in the eastern part of Sicily, east of the city of Agrigento and seems to be settled for the breeding season.The next morning it was the turn of the last Turtle-dove, a male named after the current European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevicius. Shortly after being tagged, Virginijus stayed on Comino for the day and then migrated overnight to Sicily arriving in less than a couple of hours.

Signals received on the night between the 5th and 6th May positioned Virginijus half-way in open sea between Malta and Sicily throughout the night, reaching the area of Marina di Ragusa in Sicily just before midnight – a staggering 85km of open sea in a few hours.

Virginijus then crossed through the middle of Sicily reaching the northern Sicilian coast near Cefalù, then continued eastwards towards Palermo. BirdLife remarked that in what seems to be his typical habit, Virginijus once again used the night to cross open sea, and navigated the Tyrrhenian Sea reaching the Lazio coast south of Rome.

From then on, Virginijus continued north along the Umbrian coast, reaching a forest north of Punta Ala along the Mediterranean coast, by the 9th May. “Virginijus seems to have also settled in for the breeding season, revealing to us that like Hope he is also an Italian Turtle- dove that uses Malta as a stepping stone between Italy and Africa,” said BLM.

These three join Francesco who was satellite-tagged in 2017 and is still transmitting up to this very day.

This continued research under the supervision of Justus Liebig University of Giessen in Germany has permitted the satellite-tagging of the three Turtle-doves by BirdLife Malta this spring.

The effort replicates and adds on the journeys of Francesco, an Italian Turtle-dove originally satellite-tagged in April 2017 from Comino’s bird sanctuary who continues transmitting to date.

BirdLife explained that the research has been possible thanks to sponsorship by the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union, NABU (BirdLife Germany) who have chosen the Turtle-dove as the bird of the year for 2020 in Germany.

Research work which is led by Dr Petra Quillfeldt at Giessen University aims to track the migratory movements of European Turtle-doves across Europe and Africa.

The Turtle-doves are fitted with a 5g solar-powered satellite tag which is fitted as a backpack on the bird – charging a battery using sunlight, and transmitting the bird’s GPS locations over a few days every time there is alignment with satellites orbiting the Earth.

As a result the bird’s movements are transmitted intermittently every other day. They can be followed live on the map by clicking here.

The three Turtle-doves satellite-tagged on Comino in May: (from left to right) Marija, Hope and Virginijus (Photos by Nicholas Galea)

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