Plan d'Action pour la conservation des espèces d'oiseaux inscrites ...

Directive on Wild Birds. In the breeding season it is necessary to protect
nesting colonies of the species from predation (by humans or animals),
while outside the breeding period it is important to avoid mortality at
sea, caused by accidental capture during intensive high sea fisheries.
2. Mediterranean Shearwater Puffinus yelkouan
A close relation of the previous species, the Mediterranean Shearwater,
is currently considered to constitute two full species, the Balearic
Shearwater P. yelkouan and the Levantine Shearwater P. mauretanicus.
An official Spanish Working Group is currently carrying out a survey on
the Balearic Shearwater, known to be severely threatened, to suggest
conservation measures. An Action Plan for the Balearic Shearwater has
already been prepared by BirdLife for the European Union and a
national Action Plan has already been adopted by the Spanish
Government. In any case, the two taxa have a different range and the
conservation measures for each are very similar.
3. Storm Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus
As its scientific name suggests, this is the third of the pelagic seabirds
which, like the previous two, is nocturnal in the breeding season in its
colonies on rocky islets. The species is listed on Annex I of the European
Union’s Directive on Wild Birds. The sub-species H. p. melitensis is endemic
to the Mediterranean; other sub-species nest in the Atlantic. The colonies
on Malta, Sardinia and Sicily are well known, though there are gaps in
knowledge of colonies in the eastern Mediterranean. The problems which
the species faces are very similar to those facing the two previous species.
4. European Shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis
The European Shag, represented in the Mediterranean by an endemic subspecies
Ph. a. desmarestii, is a smaller relative of the Great Cormorant, a
migrant which arrives from the north in winter and is well-known (though
little liked) by fishermen. The Shag remains all the year round in
Mediterranean waters and nests along coasts and on rocky islets; other subspecies
occur in the Atlantic. Breeding colonies of this species in the
western Mediterranean and Adriatic are poorly known, and little
information is available on the species’ winter dispersal (on the high seas?).
5. Osprey Pandion haliaetus
The Osprey is a cosmopolitan fish-eating raptor; most of its population
nests in northern regions of the Old and New Worlds, and migrates to
wintering areas south of the Sahara, southern Asia and South America.
But, unusually, the Osprey also has a small nesting population on the
coasts and islands of the Mediterranean, where a few individuals of this
species also winter. The present Action Plan is concerned mainly with
these nesting birds. It has been estimated that about 70 pairs nest on
the Balearic Islands, in Corsica, Morocco and Algeria; their nesting sites,
often extremely picturesque, are often under threat from disturbance
by tourists. The species is listed on Annex I of the European Union’s
Directive on Wild Birds.
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