The vulnerable bird was photographed by Mario V. Gauci as it flew over the islands.
To the pleasure of Maltese bird admirers, the Audouins Gull, known as Gawwija Munqarha Ahmar in Maltese, was seen freely flying over Qawra a few days ago for the Autumn migration season.
Luckily, nature photographer Mario V. Gauci captured the majestic bird flying over us on 15th October. This is a delight for all of us that unluckily didn’t spot it!
Unfortunately, this specific type of gull species is declared as ‘Vulnerable to Extinction’ by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which makes this sighting that more special.
According to a post by Birdlife Malta, Audoiun’s Gulls have sadly been facing difficulty when it comes to raising chicks on the Lastovo archipelago in Croatia. In fact, Life Artina, which is a project dedicated to conservation of the pelagic seabird species in the Central Adriatic Sea, have been working tirelessly to improve their prospects.
This is not the first time that Audouin Gulls have been seen in Malta, as they have also been spotted flying over the islands from Ebro Delta in Spain, Gaeta in Italy and Vendicari on Sicily.
May this juvenile gull have a successful Autumn migrating season!
Have you spotted the gull flying over Malta?