GRIGOR JORGO
KEYWORDS : Bird ringing, Recovering, Migration route, Migratory birds, Wood warbler.
ABSTRACT :
Through this paper, an important news on the bird ringing activity in our country is communicated. It is about an individual of the Wood warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix) ringed by the Albanian Bird Ringing Scheme association in the village of Vishaj (Tirana), which was recovered in Malta, Melieha, Ghadira Nature Reserve. Data about ringed individual, were sent to the Maltese Center (Bird Life Malta), together with photographs of birds caught and ringed that day, including this individual of the Wood warbler. This case shades light to the migration route that was not known before. Referring to the dates of ringing and recovering, which correspond to the period of migration of migratory birds from wintering areas to nesting sites, we can figure out the migration route followed by this individual. We assume that after leaving the wintering area he arrived in Malta, one of the most important grounds for migratory birds, from there to Sicily, through Messina Strait towards southern Italy, and then he passed to Albania through the Strait of Otranto, to continue afterwards his way to the nesting site. The individual was ringed in the village of Vishaj (Tirana), on Sunday 17/04/2022, ringing time: 11:12, temp. 8°C-19°C. This village is situated in the Central Albania and is part of the Western Lowlands along the Erzeni River valley; it is an agricultural and livestock farming area with a diverse Flora and Fauna. This recovery is especially important for ornithology in Albania as it not only marks the first Albanian ring recovered outside of the country, but it also provides data on the species’ migration route. Years of tenacious work from the Albanian Bird Ringing Scheme has finally yielded this scientific data.