from the beak through the ey1e to Sparrow Hawk { Alccipiter nisus) SOIME NiOT•E!S ON T'HE lVllED\ITiEiRIRANiEIAIN GULL LARUS 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 species. 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 gulls 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 birds 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 bird 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 8. 9
Some Notes on the Mediterranean Gull Larus Melanocephalus and the Black-Headed Gull Larus Ridibundus
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