Oksana is a female Short-eared Owl tagged whilst wintering in Malta in February 2025. It left Malta in March when she migrated to Russia via Sicily, mainland Italy, across the Adriatic to Albania, Kosova, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine. It also crossed into Kazakhstan for some days before continuing north-east back into Russian territory.

Project Information

Research on the Short-eared Owl population of Malta

The main objective of this project is to research the Short-eared Owl's population, an annex 1 species, that migrates through, winters and occasionally also breeds in Malta. Understanding how such sensitive, nocturnal predators make use of the archipelago for hunting, resting and breeding is important to better protect important areas from various pressures. Different aspects of the owls’ ecology will be studied, including: estimation and monitoring of the migratory and wintering population size through observation and scientific bird ringing, the use of different habitats and micro-habitats for hunting and roosting throughout seasons via the use of gps-tracking devices which will also reveal migration routes beyond Malta, wintering and breeding behaviour via the use of sound recording devices and trap cameras and diet studies via pellet collection and analysis. The first year of this project (Apr 2024 - Apr 2025) was funded by the Conservation of Wild Birds funding scheme 2023, administered by WBRU.

Milestones

05/02/2025 08:02 UTC

Tagging Location Obfuscated due to site/species sensitivity

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20/03/2025 08:03 UTC

Start of Track

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27/04/2025 12:04 UTC

Last known location

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Telemetry Device Information

OrniTrack-E9 4G transmitter was fitted using a teflon backpack harness. The E (elevated solar panel) version of this tag weighs approx 10g, despite the name '9'. The panel's elevation helps in reducing the amount of feathers covering the panel and preventing charging.

Read more on Ornitela's page: https://www.ornitela.com/10g-transmitter