[WATCH] Hunters to install bird nesting boxes

Artificial nesting boxes will be placed in strategic locations around the Maltese islands as part of a project announced by St Hubert Hunters.

KSU will be installing 400 manmade nesting boxes in several locations in order to target birds which are known to nest in Malta – namely the swift, pallid swift, spanish sparrow, tree sparrow, swallow, house martin, grey wagtail, spotted flycatcher, starling, common kestrel and the peregrine falcon species.

The announcement came after the success of a similar initiative, BEJTA, where three nests intended for the spotted flycatcher species was observed and recorded with fledglings, the first of which only weeks after the installation. “These are the first ever records of this bird nesting in man-made nests in Malta,” KSU said, adding that all the nests are being installed, monitored, and maintained by the group’s volunteers.

The nesting boxes will be placed in locations where it is likely that the birds will nest, KSU president Mark Mifsud Bonnici said.

The project is being carried out in collaboration with independent ornithologist Natalino Fenech and is co-financed by the Environment Ministry under the Conservation of Wild Birds Fund 2017. “We believe that hunters are ornithologists have a lot in common, and we would like to successfully collaborate with people who care about birds,” Mifsud Bonnici said.

Praising the group’s efforts, Environment Minister Jose Herrera said that hunters are not only hunters, but also conservationists. Similarly, President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, who is lending her name to the project, said that she is proud of the innovative project which will give visibility to hunters.

“[Hunters] are not people who kill everything that flies, but are doing their best so that the rest of society can enjoy birds in their natural habitat,” she said.

Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights Clint Camilleri said that environmentalists and hunters ought to work together for the sake of the natural environment. “These initiatives need to be encouraged… as although there is often tension between the two parties, it is important to find common ground in order to protect flora and fauna.”