[WATCH] Hunters record secretive and rare water bird

A beautiful and very rare visitor to Malta, the Baillon’s Crake, was recorded during the spring hunting season last month by members of St Hubert’s Hunters.

The water bird is an irregular visitor from mid-March to mid-May in spring, while in autumn, from October to November.

It is a very secretive species and several years have passed by without a single record of this species in Malta.

St Hubert Hunters (KSU) said the bird was first noted by members Marcus Camilleri and Peter Paul Azzopardi on 25 April.

KSU informed ornithologists Natalino Fenech and Michael Sammut to positively identify the bird and it was monitored closely until it left on 30 April.

The hunting organisation said it wanted to cooperate with competent ornithologists despite divergent views on certain issues.

KSU is currently conducting informative lectures for hunters and has installed almost 400 nest boxes for various bird species around Malta and Gozo as part of an ongoing project.