from the beak through the ey1e to Sparrow Hawk { Alccipiter nisus) SOIME NiOT•E!S ON T'HE lVllED\ITiEiRIRANiEIAIN the 3ides Of the neck. Its blui;:;h fe,et Sparvier MELANOCEPHALUS AIND THE BIJAlOK-IHiEJADE[) G[(J[JL LARUS have padded toes with strong claws E:>parrow Hawks are uncommonly to ena'ble it to clutch securely the RIDJBT;NDUS seen from late September to mid­ fish on which it feeds. October; they are very rare at other In its habita;t this raptor occurs When one examines critically the various studies published on Maltese times. So .far in the last five years natu~aay enough near water. Th.is Ornithol-ogy one is likely meet with confused statements regardin,g the it has only occurred t:wice later then to holds true also for Malta; how­ m:d.-October, and just m1ce in ~t3.tus of quite a number of . Two of these are the Mediterranean c·;er, especi:Jily in autumn, they can Gull Larus melanocephalus and the B!ack-headed Gul.l Larus Tidibundus. Spring. It is intere.sting to note that also be observed at the hill ridges. Before trying to give the proper status of these I list hereunder Schembri ( Catalogo Ornitologico It::; bu.oyant fHght consists of a previous statements. del Gruppo di Malta -- 1843) few slow wing beats followed by described it as c·ommon in both long glides on level deeply-arched Black-he.J.ded Gull spring and autumn. Mediterranean Gull \Vings. I Male Sparrow Haw.ks are slate Schembri (1843) Common in the winter Common in the winter grey on back, wings and tail; the months. breast and belly are whit,e-barred months. Slack Kite ( Milvus migrans) with rusty brown. Females ha~e Wright ( 1864) This is the common Associates with L. Melanoce­ Astun Iswed brownish upper-parts, wh:i.le their gull of Malta. During phalus but is ·by no means so underparts are white-barred with This Kite is a scarce S!pring and winter congregates in common. greyish brown. In young th,:; autumn passage migrant occuring large flocks in the har­ upper-parts are brownish with from April to mid-May and in bours. rufous tipped f,eathers; the under­ s1ightly greater numbers from parts range from orange to white August to li.te September. It has Despott (1917) This is the common I mu:st confess that though I with irregular markings. Both its been also recorded in late March gu.il of Malta. It is to have looked for it most care­ feet ai1d irts are yel,low. and in July. Albout ten occurrenc•es be seen in pretty large fully [ hav~; not y.et succeed­ These hawks are found in well a.re noted yearly. numbers in our har­ ed in detecting it. wooded al.'eas which are suiln•ble bours. Black Kit,es are a dingy dark for the way they hunt. Their prey consists chiefly of small birds, al­ brown with darker streaks on Gibb (1951) Mmy. (surprisingly not mentioned) breast and belly. The upper sur­ though a few small mammals are also talmn. faces of the wing have a pale p'l.tch Roberts (1954) A very common winter A oomm-on winter visitor to which is also found on their under It has a rapid flight, a few supple visitor. Malta's harbours associating wing beats being fc.!Jo,wed by a long surface in Juveniles. Its dark tail is freely with L. Mezanocephal­ light glide. It bas not been ob­ slightly forked. us, though usually in rather served soaring much in these smaller numbers. islands. These birds can be seen singly or These predators ~we usually met in sma1J parties (the larg1est re­ De Lucca (1969) A very common winter A common winter visitor. corded being of sixteen birds in with flying over the hill ridges (es­ visitor. pecially over Busklett) on their spring 1970). On migration they fly migratory flight which takes place at a medium height, in autumn of­ '} Considering the fact that it is the Black-headed Gull which is the com­ ten with the Honey Buzzards. at very vari3Jl:>Ie altitudes. Birds mostly trav;e.J singly but on two oc­ moner of the two with us in winter (and not the Mediterrane:a,n Gull as ge­ In flight this soars and nerally stated in the above table), one assumes tba,t :some O:f the afore men­ glides leisuDely but gracefully on casions, WfTe noted with hobbie,s Occasionally it oan be observ1ed tioned authorities totally confused the two species in the winter and imma­ level wings, though it can hold them ture plumages. (Others, it seems, were content to rely on previous momentarily in a shallow V. hunting, skimming low over the stone walls. works.) I cannot imag,ine that a chang.e in the numbers of wintering gulls has taken place. The on1y published stJa,tement with which I fully ag.ree is that of A. D'Andria who wrote "The B~ack-neaded Gull is, fn my ex:pe·r­ ience rather· more common here than the ab

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