How do birds manage their arduous flight to Europe? A webinar for nature lovers

Could smaller birds be migrating by riding on the backs of larger species? And come autumn, where did the swallows and martins disappear to? Were they burying themselves in the mire on lakebeds, only to emerge in spring?

Every year millions of mammals, fish, insects, and birds cross continents and seas in search of shelter, food, and places to breed. However, this fluctuating appearance and disappearance of a food source was not always understood by early man.

Nowadays, ensconced in the depths of our comfy sofas, we watch large herds of zebra and wildebeest on Animal Planet and National Geographic, marching along the dusty plains of Africa in their hundreds of thousands, crossing from the Masai Mara in Kenya to the Serengeti in Tanzania in constant search of green pastures.

Bee-eaters

Each spring, creatures all over the world abandon their wintry haunts and set off towards the North in order to mate and bear their offspring. A few months later, in autumn, with their young in tow, they embark on their long voyage back to the Southern continents, to lands where the climate is warmer, and food is abundant. Dragonflies, grasshoppers, butterflies, and moths, migrate too and reach our shores in large swarms, particularly when the Southern winds blow.

Bird and animal migration is the subject of a webinar to be live-streamed on Heritage Malta’s Facebook Page on Wednesday 26 May at 6:30 pm. During the webinar John J. Borg, Senior Curator for Natural History and an ornithologist with more than 35 years’ experience, will be describing the migrating preferences of different bird species. He will also touch on the history of bird ringing, and the webinar will include a bird ringing demonstration.

Barn swallow

The phenomena of migration fascinated the ancients. A shard of pottery found at Ġgantija temples in Gozo features a flock of crested birds – probably lapwings – in flight. Figurines and pottery engraved with images of birds were also discovered at Tarxien Temples and the Hypogeum.

Migration is the biggest adventure in a bird’s life and a very hazardous one at that. Hundreds of thousands of birds never make it to their destination. Stormy weather, vast stretches of sea and desert, hunting, and trapping are just a few of the perils that birds face along their flight path.

Several species prefer to migrate over land, avoiding the sea as much as possible. This is why the two most important Mediterranean flyways for birds crossing from Europe to Africa are Gibraltar in the West and the Bosphorus in Turkey to the East. However, there are also some species that do cross the sea, choosing to rest on islands only if they encounter bad weather. Along these routes, they find the Strait of Sicily, with the Maltese Islands to the South being their last dry land before reaching the African coast.

Some birds migrate during the daytime, such as raptors and swallows, while others, like turtle doves, thrushes, and robins, prefer to travel at night. Many keep up a constant flight, soaring high without ever touching the ground, only seeking shelter and food on land if they come across inclement weather.

Marsh harrier

The distances covered vary according to species. For example, the Chaffinch, which nests in Scandinavia and migrates to Great Britain, flies just a few hundred kilometres. Swallows, on the other hand, would have travelled between 8,000 and 10,000 kilometres upon reaching South Africa.

Find out where best on the Maltese Islands to view harriers and falcons, where to observe the movements of waders, herons, and egrets, and how birds fuel and sustain themselves during their long passage in the air.

The webinar which will be delivered in Maltese with English subtitles, will include a question and answer session. Participants who would like to put their questions to Mr Borg need to register beforehand to this lin