martinaustad.bsky.social
@martinaustad.bsky.social
Conservation and research on #seabirds in the Maltese Islands with #BirdLifeMalta. Also a birder, hobby farmer & cyclist.
Reposted
BirdLife Malta’s latest PR addresses misleading claims by FKNK on Turtle-dove recovery. While FKNK cites limited data to suggest improvement EU experts continue to call for zero harvest along the Central-Eastern flyway which includes Malta. A 37% long-term decline in breeding pairs cannot be ignored
June 12, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Excited to share this paper on shearwater diets in the Mediterranean! link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Thanks to a great team, Lucie Michel and co-authors including @fdepa1.bsky.social @jgcecere.bsky.social , part-funding by @dornitholges.bsky.social,
@hannahpepe.bsky.social for the post graphics!
A new study (link.springer.com/article/10.1...) compares the diets of Scopoli’s and Yelkouan shearwaters.

Despite a wide diet, a few pelagic fish species stood out.

Protection of spawning areas and selective fishing are needed for shearwaters and fisheries to co-exist in the region.
June 6, 2025 at 11:41 AM
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Bottom trawling is horribly destructive to coastal ocean ecosystems, and deep-sea mining will do the same to the open ocean. #OceanFilm 🌊
May 10, 2025 at 8:39 AM
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The Yelkouan Shearwater (Garnija) depends on the dark to safely return to its nests along our precious Maltese cliffs. Martin Austad from BirdLife Malta's seabird team explains how light pollution is disrupting this species and why urgent action is needed.

#KeepCliffsDark
March 21, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Reposted
Seabird Team's Field Update

Exciting news from last Friday's fieldwork! The first egg of the 2025 season has been discovered at the Yelkouan Shearwater colonies! A promising start for this year's breeding season.

#SeabirdConservation #YelkouanShearwater #LifePanPuffinus #BirdLifeMalta
March 3, 2025 at 6:17 AM