Conservation & Education

Four Active Initiatives

Everything the society does falls under one of four standing programmes. Each is run by volunteer members, funded by donations and membership contributions, and reported on to our committee.

Raptor Rehabilitation & Species Care Support

Trained handling and transport of grounded raptors
Coordination with licensed veterinarians and rehabilitation partners
Feeding, weight monitoring and quiet convalescence space
Written intake and release records for every case

Malta sits on one of the busiest raptor migration corridors in the central Mediterranean. Every spring and autumn, honey buzzards, marsh harriers, kestrels and falcons cross the islands — and every season some come down injured, exhausted or shot. Our members provide practical assistance: safe capture and handling, secure transport boxes, immediate transfer to licensed veterinary care, quiet holding space, and support with feeding and monitoring during recovery. We keep intake and outcome records for every bird we assist, and we do not keep wild birds beyond what care requires.

Heritage Preservation & Traditional Falconry Demonstrations

Hand-made historic falconry furniture and its documentation
Public demonstrations at village feasts and heritage days
Translation and study of De Arte Venandi cum Avibus
Apprenticeship and mentoring within the society

Falconry is recognised internationally as living human heritage, and Malta's connection to it runs through the Norman and Hohenstaufen periods, the Knights of St John and the famous tribute of the Maltese falcon. We research, reconstruct and demonstrate historic practice: hand-stitched hoods, braided jesses, bells and swivels, the manning of a young bird, and the long apprenticeship the old texts describe. Our demonstrations are always educational, never spectacle, and are held with the welfare of the bird as the first consideration.

School & Youth Educational Awareness Workshops

Free classroom sessions for primary, secondary and sixth-form groups
Courtyard demonstrations with calm, fully manned birds
Printed identification sheets in English and Maltese
Teacher notes aligned with environmental studies topics

Our schools programme reaches more than a thousand students every year across Malta and Gozo. Sessions are pitched to the year group and built around a simple message: raptors are protected, they are rare, they are useful, and they are worth far more in the sky than on a wall. Pupils learn to identify the species that pass over their own village, understand the food chain that keeps rodent numbers down, and know exactly who to call if they find a grounded bird.

Ethical Keeping Standards & Public Outreach Programmes

Binding written welfare and ethics code for all members
Peer inspection of housing and equipment
Guidance to the public on protected species and the law
Dialogue with councils, NGOs and enforcement authorities

Trust in falconry depends entirely on how the birds are kept. Our members sign and are held to a written welfare code covering mews dimensions and ventilation, perching, bathing, weight management, tethering limits, veterinary access, record keeping and lawful acquisition. We also speak publicly — to councils, hunting and conservation bodies, and the press — about the difference between lawful, documented, ethical keeping and the illegal taking of wild birds.

Gallery

Raptors, Field Days & Educational Highlights

Peregrine study portrait — used in our school identification materials.

A kestrel receiving wing care before transfer to veterinary assessment.

Heritage demonstration in a village square during the parish feast.

The mews: hand-made hoods, jesses and bells on the peg wall.

Courtyard session with a primary school group in the south of Malta.

Autumn flying on the garrigue, with the bastions beyond.