CONSERVATION OF WILD BIRDS (DECLARATION ON A DEROGATION ALLOWING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON SEVEN FINCH SPECIES IN AUTUMN

DEROGATION ALLOWING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON

SEVEN FINCH SPECIES IN AUTUMN 2025)

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 549.180

CONSERVATION OF WILD BIRDS (DECLARATION

ON A DEROGATION ALLOWING SCIENTIFIC

RESEARCH ON SEVEN FINCH SPECIES IN AUTUMN

2025) REGULATIONS

18th October, 2025

LEGAL NOTICE 253 of 2025.

The title of these regulations is the Conservation of Wild

Birds (Declaration on a Derogation Allowing Scientific Research on

Seven Finch Species in Autumn 2025) Regulations and these

regulations shall be read in conjunction with the Conservation of Wild

Birds (Framework for Allowing a Derogation to Carry out Scientific

Research on Seven Finch Species) Regulations, hereinafter referred to

as the "Framework Regulations".

(1)

For the purpose of these regulations and within

the meaning of Article 9 of Directive 2009/147/EC of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the

conservation of wild birds, hereinafter referred to as the "Birds

Directive", in particular as read in conjunction with Article 10 and

Annex V(c) of the said Birds Directive, given that within the territory

of the Republic of Malta

(a)

European Greenfinch (Chloris chloris), Hawfinch

(Coccothraustes

Common

Chaffinch

coccothraustes),

(Fringilla coelebs), Common Linnet (Linaria cannabina),

Eurasian Siskin (Spinus spinus), European Goldfinch

(Carduelis carduelis) and European Serin (Serinus serinus),

hereinafter referred to as "the relevant species" or "finches", are

non-resident, passage migrant birds;

(b)

ornithologists and licensed bird-ringers have been

unsuccessful in collecting, by means of the mist-net system,

which is the least selective method of capturing birds, the

required data to meet the stated objective of the Finches

Research Project* *2 , with a view to providing conclusive

information on the regions of origin of the main bird

contingents (reference population), as is evidenced by the very

limited ring recovery data collected during the period between

1920 and 2018* †3 and as also attested by the judgment of the

Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-557/15;

* ** 2 The report "Malta’s finches research project: scope and methodology", dated

May 2020, is available on the site: https://wbru.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/

maltaFinchResScopeMethod-1.pdf.

DEROGATION ALLOWING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON

SEVEN FINCH SPECIES IN AUTUMN 2025)

(c)

the success of the Finches Research Project in

answering its research question "where do finches that migrate

over Malta during post-nuptial (autumn) migration come

from?" does not depend exclusively on the participation of

ornithologists, as evidenced by the number of foreign ring

recoveries that were recorded by licensed data collectors,

without the collaboration of ornithologists, during the finches

research periods of autumn 2020–2024*** *4 , which data

collection attests the valuable contribution to research of this

citizen science initiative by tapping into the data collectors’

skills in handling, identifying and sexing of finches, in line with

the principle objectives of the European Commission’s "Green

Paper on Citizen Science"*** †5 ;

(d)

bird-ringers who participate in the national

ringing scheme do not use live-decoys for the purpose of

scientific ringing and control, which live-decoys are the key

component of the clap-net system*** ‡6 that "enables a more

selective capturing of birds than mist-nets"*** §7 ;

bird censuses*** **8 , as is the case within the rest

(e)

of the Territory of the European Union and elsewhere, are

designed to monitor population size and status, including

† * 3 Data on ring recoveries of the relevant species controlled in Malta by means of

th e m ist-n et system fr om 1 92 0s to 2018 is available on the sites: https://

birdlifemalta.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/BLM-Report_The-international-

impact-of-hunting-and-trapping-in-the-Maltese-Islands.pdf [Section 3.4 and 3.5.3]

and https://wbru.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ringRecov0818-1.pdf. The total

number of foreign ring recoveries collected by ornithologists in Malta during this 99-

year period is as follows: fifty-three (53) Linnets, sixteen (16) Siskins, sixteen (16)

Serins, sixteen (16) Greenfinches, seven (7) Chaffinches and four (4) Goldfinches.

* *** 4 In contrast to the method adopted by ornithologists and bird-ringers when

using the mist-net system for capturing the relevant species (vide previous footnote),

during the autumn 2020–2024 Finches Research Project, the data collectors, by using

the clap-net system, recorded a total of 33 foreign ring recoveries from the relevant

species: five (5) Linnets, twenty-five (25) Siskins [16 of which were recorded during

the research period of autumn 2023], a Greenfinch, a Serin and the first foreign ring

recovery of a Hawfinch recorded during the research period of autumn 2023. This

foreign ring recovery data collected by the licensed data collectors during autumn

2020–2024 was verified and confirmed by EURING through the national ringing

scheme.

† *** 5 European Commission. (2013). "Green Paper on Citizen Science: Citizen

Science for Europe - Towards a Society of Empowered Citizens and Enhanced

Research", available on the site: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/green-

paper-citizen-science-europe-towards-society-empowered-citizens-and-enhanced-

research.

‡ *** 6 A report on selectivity and mesh-size and how the clap-net system operates

was presented by the Wild Birds Regulation Unit to the Malta Ornis Committee on 31

July 2019 (included as Annex A to the Committee minutes of the same meeting),

available on the site: https://wbru.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/

oMinThirtstJul19.pdf.

§ *** 7 Vide paragraph 79 of the Opinion of Advocate General Ćapeta in Case C-23/

23, European Commission v. Republic of Malta, delivered on 30 May 2024, available

on

the

site

https://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/

document.jsf?text=&docid=286577&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=req&dir=&o

cc=first&part=1&cid=884890.

DEROGATION ALLOWING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON

SEVEN FINCH SPECIES IN AUTUMN 2025)

changes in breeding and wintering populations and thus cannot

provide any insight on the provenance of populations of

migratory species;

(f)

bird migration studies record the influx of

specimens through space and time by means of observational

counts*** *9 and thus it is impossible to determine, from such

studies, which of the migrating specimens from the relevant

species are fitted with a scientific ring and which are not, and

equally impossible to record the details of such rings, unless the

specimens from the relevant species are captured and examined

physically; and

(g)

the lack of robust baseline ring recovery data,

coupled with unpredictable and complex factors********* †10

that influence the movement of migratory populations of

finches from their breeding grounds to their wintering grounds

during post-nuptial migration, renders large-scale modelling – a

purely probabilistic approach that requires mass data to prove

reliable – inappropriate to determine the migration ecology of

finches and, consequently, inappropriate to determine the

population of the regions from which the largest numbers of

migratory finches come before passing through Malta, which

explains why population models mainly focus on studies related

to population dynamics, including predator-prey relationship,

rather than on bird migration.

(2)

The Minister, after ascertaining that

(a)

the aforementioned statement of reasons and

evidence are based on the best relevant scientific knowledge;

(b)

the design, scope and methodology of the Finches

Research Project are best suited to answer the research

question: "where do finches that migrate over Malta during

post-nuptial (autumn) migration come from?";

***** 8 Vide, for example, the birds census objectives of the Pan-European Common

Birds Monitoring Scheme (PECBMS) and the Birds Directive Article 12 reporting

obligations, available on the sites: https://www.ebcc.info/what-we-do/pecbms/ and

https://www.eionet.europa.eu/etcs/etc-be/activities/reporting/article-12 respectively.

***** 9 Vide, for example, the objective and methodology of Malta’s finches

migration study that is carried out annually between 15 October and 15 January,

available on the site: https://wbru.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Finches-

migration-study-report-2023.pdf.

† ********* 10 These include, inter alia, habitat preferences, resource availability,

population demographics and weather patterns. Predicting, quantifying, and

communicating these uncertainties can be challenging, particularly when translating

model outputs into conservation recommendations or management actions. Vide

Martin, T. G., Wintle, B. A., Rhodes, J. R., Kuhnert, P. M., Field, S. A., Low-Choy, S.

J. and Possingham, H. P., "Zero tolerance ecology: Improving ecological inference by

modelling the source of zero observations", Ecology Letters, 8(11), 2005, 1235-1246.

DEROGATION ALLOWING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON

SEVEN FINCH SPECIES IN AUTUMN 2025)

(c)

the design, scope and methodology of the Finches

Research Project render it the least intrusive scientific research

method that is capable of yielding satisfactory results, whilst

adhering to ethical standards that are in line with international

practice; and

(d)

the Finches Research Project shall have all the necessary

safeguards, including its implementation under supervised

conditions********* *11 and the adoption of ring recovery data

collection techniques based on established scientific-based practices

and standards, as already applied by data collectors, on the safe

handling of specimens from the relevant species, is hereby

ascertaining the absence of another satisfactory solution to carry out a

comprehensive research study (the "Finches Research Project") by

allowing licensed data collectors to use registered clap-nets, as the

most selective method of capturing specimens from the relevant

species, in order to check for and record foreign ring recoveries

(control) on a ring recovery form issued for this purpose together with

their special research licence, followed by the immediate release of all

captured specimens back into the wild, and by also allowing licensed

bird-ringers, who are hereby formally invited together with EURING

to reconsider their objections to the Finches Research Project, to place

scientific rings on those specimens from the relevant species captured

by data collectors that are not fitted with such rings, followed by their

immediate release back into the wild, insofar as this is absolutely

necessary to obtain data to determine Malta’s reference population of

the relevant species, in accordance with the provisions of the Birds

Directive and the Framework Regulations.

The terms and expressions used in these regulations,

unless the context otherwise requires, shall have the same meaning

assigned to them in the Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations,

hereinafter referred to as the "Wild Birds Regulations", and in the

Framework Regulations.

* ********* 11 The Framework Regulations provide for daily police spot-checks in all

regions of Malta and Gozo for the time when a research period is open until at least

four weeks from the termination of the research period with an enforcement

deployment "in the region of fifty (50) Police officers". Throughout the previous

finches research derogation periods (autumn 2020–2024), there was a minimum of one

(1) spot-check for every two (2) data collectors and a maximum of six (6) spot-checks

for every five (5) data collectors at any given time in all regions, calculated as a

percentage of the total number of spot-checks carried out and the total number of

special research licences issued for each finches research derogation period. Since the

number of special research licence holders (data collectors) participating in the

finches research project concurrently on any given day of the derogation periods was

much lower than the total number of licences issued, the number of daily spot-checks

on individual data collectors was much higher overall, and higher still when the

number of data collectors that took part in the research on any given day during the

research period was the lowest.

DEROGATION ALLOWING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON

SEVEN FINCH SPECIES IN AUTUMN 2025)

(1)

The research period and its associated parameters

shall be in accordance with the provisions of these regulations, with

the provisions of the Framework Regulations and the special research

licence conditions.

(2)

For the purpose of these regulations, specimens from the

relevant species shall only be captured by selective nets known as

clap-nets in accordance with the Framework Regulations and the

special research licence conditions.

(3)

Special research licence holders may capture and handle

birds from the relevant species to determine which specimens are

fitted with a scientific ring, to record the scientific ring identification

numbers (control), report all specimens captured in real-time after the

immediate release back into the wild of all such specimens from the

same research site, and submit the ring recovery form supplied for this

purpose by the Wild Birds Regulation Unit within the period

established by the Unit following closure of the research period, in

accordance with the special research licence conditions and in

accordance with the provisions of regulation 7 of the Framework

Regulations.

(4)

Licensed bird-ringers may affix a scientific ring on

specimens pertaining to the relevant species, followed by their

immediate release back into the wild from the same research site in

accordance with the provisions of sub-regulation 7(5) of the

Framework Regulations.

For the purpose of establishing the dates and duration of

the research period in accordance with regulation 8 of the Framework

Regulations, and for the purpose of these regulations, the research

period for the relevant species for the year 2025 shall be sixty-two (62)

days from 20 th October 2025 to 20 th December 2025, both dates

included, for European Greenfinch (Chloris chloris), Hawfinch

(Coccothraustes coccothraustes), Common Chaffinch (Fringilla

coelebs), Common Linnet (Linaria cannabina), Eurasian Siskin

(Spinus spinus), European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) and

European Serin (Serinus serinus)

Provided that the provisions of these regulations shall

cease to have effect and no research activity shall be permitted in the

event that the Minister orders, by notice in the Gazette or any other

notice, that the research period is to terminate immediately or at a date

as specified by the Minister. All licensees shall be informed

immediately of such termination by means of a text message service

(SMS) to the number indicated by that person in the application for a

special research licence.

Special research licences shall be issued upon the

DEROGATION ALLOWING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON

SEVEN FINCH SPECIES IN AUTUMN 2025)

payment of a nominal fee of twenty-five euro (€25), provided the

conditions stipulated in regulation 10(5) of the Framework

Regulations are fulfilled.