Europe’s birds breed in spring and summer, raising their young when food is plentiful and the weather hospitable. In autumn, as the cold sets in and food sources dry up, Europe’s birds migrate to warmer climates where food supplies are more abundant and the weather is more hospitable. These wintering grounds can be as far as South Africa, or as close as southern Europe; in fact several species over-winter in Malta including the Common Starling, Robin and White Wagtail among others.
Image showing the three main flyways used by migratory soaring birds. Source: Born to Travel Campaign/VBN.
Birds migrate using three main routes; the east via Spain and Gibraltar, the west via the Bosporus (Istanbul) and Turkey, and the central Mediterranean over the Italian peninsula and the Central Mediterranean islands including the Maltese archipelago.
In spring birds leave their wintering grounds and head north for the breeding season. Not all the birds which reached the wintering grounds will have survived to leave for home. Of the birds which start the migration, not all will reach their breeding grounds due to severe conditions during migration. Therefore, those birds which do make it to Europe are the survivors of the bird world, the birds on which the future of the species depends.