First record of the Pygmy cormorant phalacrocorax pygmeus in the Maltese Islands

Abstract

In 2002, while undertaking a re-examination of the National Museum of Natural History collections it was noted that there were two Pygmy Cormorants; one was on display and another in the reference collection. The one on display was an imported specimen (from Holland Zoo, reference number Orn.2500) but the one in the reference collection, an adult in non-breeding plumage was labelled as taken at Ġnejna (North-west Malta) in October 1983 bearing catalogue number 1298 (new reference number = Orn.0316). In addition a third specimen (reference number Orn.2653) was added to the museum‘s collection in 2008. However it was a confiscated bird that had almost certainly been imported along with other specimens from eastern Europe (which were all included in the confiscated collection) and cannot therefore be considered to have been taken in Malta.