From kestrels to hoopoes, protected birds are being shot every day

Poachers are using the spring hunting season to shoot protected birds with conservationists recording several illegalities over the past few days.

Bird conservation group BirdLife has received one illegally shot protected bird a day since the start of the spring hunting season last Friday.

The only bird that can be hunted at this time of the year is quail. The hunting season closes on 30 April.

BirdLife said that on Friday, which marked the start of the hunting season, it received a dead Common Kestrel that was retrieved by the police from Għajnsielem.

A day later, a member of the public found a European Bee-eater at Salina with damage to its right wing, and on Easter Sunday a Hoopoe was found by the public in Floriana with an injury to its left wing.

On Monday, another Common Kestrel with a broken wing was found by a Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) team in Birżebbuġa, and yesterday a Collared Dove with an open fracture to its left wing was found by a member of the public in Wardija.

BirdLife said all birds were taken to the government veterinarian who confirmed they were illegally shot.

“These birds are just the ones we managed to recover, and our teams have witnessed more protected birds being shot at during the past days, such as a Grey Heron that was observed in flight over Għadira with very evident gunshot injuries to one of its wings,” the group said.

CABS has today released a new video documenting dozens of illegal hunting and trapping cases its teams have recorded since March.