The "Turtle Doves Captive-breeding and Release into the Wild" Federation for Hunting and Conservation – Malta (FKNK) Project has made a huge impact on the understanding of migration flyways and breeding countries of turtle doves. The released project's offspring, tagged with GPS satellite tracking transmitters, have provided invaluable insights that will shape the future of conservation.
In 2021, the FKNK released 10 GPS-tagged turtle doves, and in 2022, 8 more were released. The FKNK is delighted to report that three of the tagged birds have yielded extremely encouraging results. These indicate that the number of so-termed 'reference population countries' should also include Bulgaria and Kosovo. In an exciting turn of events, two of the seven birds that were GPS tagged and released earlier this year, have stopped in Bosnia-Herzegovina (see attached satellite map). This means that this country should also form part of the ‘reference population countries’.
The sustainable bag limit for turtle doves is based on the breeding populations of the 'reference population countries', which are the countries from where turtle doves migrate over the Maltese islands. So called 'ring-recoveries', that is birds that have been fitted with scientific rings in other countries and eventually recovered in Malta, have been used to gain insights into the breeding populations of Eight European countries. These countries form the basis of the sustainable bag limit for turtle doves that has been established for the Maltese islands. It is therefore only logical that the bag limit should be increased in line with the addition of the three new 'reference population countries' established by the FKNK Turtle Doves Project.
The GPS satellite tracking system is the absolute future of bird migration tracking. These amazing devices can provide a lot of valuable information about bird behaviour, movements, flight speed, altitude and location, as well as the temperature of the birds and their location. These are details that bird-ringing doesn't provide. It is a pity that smaller and lighter GPS devices are not yet in production, as they would also be useful for the Maltese Government's Finches Research Programme, which has been running since 2021. The only small hiccup is that each GPS device costs hundreds of euros, whereas the cost of a split-ring is insignificant in comparison.
And finally, the FKNK would like to thank its members who are dedicated to the successful management of the Project. The FKNK would also like to thank all other members who contribute thousands of euros towards the Project on an annual basis.
Comments