# Malta Birding Expeditions
> This website, Malta Birding Expeditions, offers expert-led birding tours in the Maltese Islands, led by founder Edward Bonavia, who possesses extensive ornithological knowledge. The site details tailored expedition options that leverage seasonal migration patterns and local insights. It also outlines the site's commitment to web accessibility, aiming for WCAG 2.1 AA standards. Furthermore, the website provides information on its privacy policy, ensuring user data is handled responsibly.

## About Edward Bonavia

Edward Bonavia is the founder and sole guide of Malta Birding Expeditions. 
A field birder with over 40 years of experience, he has been guiding visiting 
birders around the Maltese Islands for more than a decade. His ornithological 
roles include: Secretary of the Malta Rarities & Records Committee (since 2006), 
National Raptor Coordinator for BirdLife Malta (since 1997), Administrator of 
the Malta Bird Sightings Database, and maintainer of the Official Malta Bird 
Checklist. He is also an Editorial Board Member for Il-Merill and the annual 
Malta Bird Report, and has authored and contributed to ornithological papers in 
leading European journals. Edward is a pharmacist by profession with an MBA from 
Henley Business School (UK), bringing a strong sense of organisation and 
reliability to every expedition. He is a frequent contributor to national media 
on ornithology, with articles published in the Times of Malta on spring migration 
and raptor movements. Guiding is offered alongside his professional career on a 
selective, pre-booked basis for individuals and small groups.

## Tours & Services

Malta Birding Expeditions offers three expedition formats, all personally led by 
Edward Bonavia and tailored to the individual visitor's date, time, and interests:

- **Personalised Half-Day Sessions** – targeted birding at productive seasonal 
  watchpoints, designed for those with limited time including family holidaymakers 
  or business travellers.
- **Full-Day Expeditions** – a comprehensive field experience covering multiple 
  habitats, moving strategically between key sites as weather and migration 
  conditions shift.
- **Multi-Day Island Circuits** – 2 or 3-day itineraries covering Malta, Gozo, 
  and Comino, targeting seasonal speciality species across the full geographical 
  range of the archipelago.

Expeditions are available year-round. During peak summer, half-day sessions are 
standard to align with bird activity and guest comfort. Booking 2–4 weeks in 
advance is recommended.

## Seasonal Birding Highlights

- **Spring (March–May):** Visible migration of raptors including Marsh Harriers, 
  passerines including Golden Oriole, European Bee-eater, Hoopoe, Pied and 
  Collared Flycatchers, and Wood Warblers.
- **Summer (June–August):** Breeding specialities including Blue Rock Thrush, 
  Sardinian Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, and Scopoli's Shearwater on coastal cliffs.
- **Autumn (September–October):** Raptor migration including Honey Buzzard, Marsh 
  Harrier, Hobby, Osprey, Eleonora's Falcon, Black Kite, and Lesser Kestrel, plus 
  passerines through the valleys.
- **Winter (November–February):** Coastal gulls including Audouin's and 
  Slender-billed Gulls, Water Rails, Kingfishers, and passerines in sheltered valleys.

## Key Birding Locations

The Maltese archipelago includes Malta, Gozo, and Comino. Notable birding sites 
include Buskett Woodland, a key raptor watchpoint, and protected coastal and 
wetland reserves across the islands.

## AI Agent Access

This site is powered by Wix and supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP)
for agentic AI access. AI agents can connect directly to retrieve live,
up-to-date site content - no scraping required.

- **Site MCP Endpoint:** https://www.maltabirdingexpeditions.com/_api/mcp
- **Wix MCP Docs:** https://dev.wix.com/docs/develop-websites/articles/get-started/about-the-wix-site-mcp

## Available MCP Tools

### GetBusinessDetails
Retrieves business and site details such as timezone, email, phone, and address.
- No parameters required.

### SearchInSite
Searches the site for information.
- \`searchTerm\` - The term to search for in the site.

### SearchSiteApiDocs
Retrieves the API documentation for the Wix business solutions installed on
this site, and informs the AI client how to use the APIs. Use this tool for
querying products and services (instead of SearchInSite).
- \`searchTerm\` - The term to search for in the site API documentation.

### GenerateVisitorToken
Creates a new visitor session and obtains a visitor access token for the site.
Must be called before making any CallWixSiteAPI request if no visitor token
is already available in context.
- No parameters required.

### CallWixSiteAPI
Calls API methods on the site to perform actions on a visitor's behalf,
such as querying site data, booking an appointment, or starting a purchase.
- \`visitorToken\` - Visitor access token. Use GenerateVisitorToken first if not available.
- \`url\` - Absolute URL of the API method to call (e.g. https://www.wixapis.com/...). Retrieve using SearchSiteApiDocs.
- \`method\` -  HTTP method to use for the API call.
- \`body\` -  Request body as a valid JSON string.

### ReadFullDocsArticle
Fetches a complete article from the Wix developer documentation portal.
- \`articleUrl\` -  URL of an article in the Wix developer documentation portal.

### ReadFullDocsMethodSchema
Fetches the full schema for a Wix API method. Should be called before
calling the actual method via CallWixSiteAPI.
- \`articleUrl\` - URL of the reference article for the Wix API method.

## What Visitors Can Do via AI + MCP

- Get business details (contact info, location, hours)
- Discover products and services on offer
- Book services and make reservations
- Start a purchase and be directed to the site to complete checkout
- Ask questions and get relevant answers without having to browse the site

## Notes

- No authentication required to connect to the MCP endpoint
- Only public information accessible on the site is available
- Content is always live and up to date
- To receive tool updates, implement a tools/list call upon receipt of a tool update notification