Malta rarities and records committee – Malta : 2nd report

Abstract

This is the second report of the Malta Rarities and Records Committee (MRRC) covering the years 2011 to 2015. The first report, which covered the years 2000 to 2010, appeared in Il-Merill (2010) pages 47- 54. This report reviews six committee meetings which were held at the National Museum of Natural History on 03.02.2011, 02.02.2012, 07.11.2012, 20.02.2014, 29.01.2015 and 02.02.2016. Discussions and decisions on some of the submitted records were also carried out online between the officials and committee members when appropriate. The members serving on the Committee were: Raymond Galea (Chairman), Edward Bonavia (Secretary), John J. Borg (representing the National Museum of Natural History), and Ian Balzan; Denis Cachia; Caldon Mercieca; and Joe Sultana as members. Raymond Vella also served as member from 2011-2013. The Committee sought the advice of international experts before taking a decision on some of the records. During the Committee Meeting held on 20th of February 2014 it was decided that the official name for the Rarities Committee should be the Malta Rarities and Records Committee (MRRC). It was also decided that apart from discussing records of rarities, the MRRC should: (a) Keep and update regularly the official Bird Species list of Malta (b) Review any new or rare breeding records (c) Discuss records at sub-species level where possible (d) Take into account the deliberation of bird records in Malta It was also agreed that the MRRC should function under the auspices of BirdLife Malta, while retaining a representative of the National Museum of Natural History as long as the member holding this post is well versed in birds and ornithology.