The breeding birds of Malta

Abstract

"Besides the paucity of trees and the want of many other conveniences indispensable for breeding birds, another reason why the number of our breeding species is so very limited, and nidification with the majority of these occurs rather sparingly, is assuredly want of protection". This paragraph introduced Giuseppe Despott's paper "The Breeding Birds of Malta", in 1916, the first and only such study in Maltese ornithological literature. If this situation was quite alarming then, it is far worse now after fifty-four years. Large areas of countryside have been encroached on, by development, while the number of bird-shooters and trappers has greatly increased. New roads lead to every corner of the Islands and there is not a spot of countryside which is not disturbed. The Mal- tese Islands are densely populated. The surface area is about 122 square miles and the population is over 320,000. Large uninhabited areas, permanent fresh water and habitats suitable for most birds are lacking, and these are all major factors re suiting in a short list of breeding birds. It is well known that small islands tend to have fewer breeding species than large mainland areas but certainly the general attitude of the Maltese worsens the situation. [excerpt]