Rescued Kestrel Killed Days After Returning to Malta
A female Common Kestrel named Għasri, who had survived a gunshot wound and been rehabilitated, was found dead four days after returning to Malta. BirdLife Malta is appealing for information and urging the government to protect wild birds.
- Bird
- Female Common Kestrel, named after the Gozo locality where she was rescued
- Rescued
- 31 October 2025, in Gozo
- Released
- 10 February, at Foresta 2000 in Mellieħa
- Death
- Around 7pm on 20 October, based on GPS tracking data
Rescue and Recovery
Għasri was rescued in Gozo and went through months of rehabilitation and veterinary care before her release in Mellieħa. She was one of four rehabilitated falcons fitted with GPS trackers under BirdLife Malta’s Wings of Hope Project, which is funded by the Malta Environment Foundation.
Migration and Return
After her release, she spent two months in the Fiddien area and then migrated to Sicily in April. She moved north through southern Italy and settled near Corato, where tracking data suggested she had nested in a rural building in an olive grove. After spending the summer there, she began her southward migration and returned to Malta the previous Friday morning. Since then, her data showed she had been roosting in the same tree in Fiddien.
Final Movements
Her last recorded movements were near a trapping site and a hunting hide in Fiddien. By 7pm on 20 October, her transmitter showed a drop in body temperature, indicating she had died. About two hours later, tracking data showed her body had been thrown into the sea off Miġra l-Ferħa. The transmitter kept signalling for several hours, but rough seas prevented recovery of her remains, and the signal stopped the following Thursday.
Investigation
The Environmental Protection Unit (EPU) was informed and inspected the site. BirdLife believes she may have been shot before falling into the trapping site, or killed there. The organisation suggests that whoever found her may have panicked on seeing the tracker and disposed of the body at sea.
A Persecuted Species
BirdLife says Common Kestrels are among the birds of prey most often persecuted in Malta, especially during autumn migration. They are shot for taxidermy or killed because they are seen as a threat to the finches used as live decoys at trapping sites.
Calls for Stronger Protection
BirdLife continues to urge Prime Minister Robert Abela not to weaken penalties under the Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations. The organisation argues that lighter penalties would benefit people who break the law and undermine efforts to protect wild birds.
