Birds of prey, herons and colourful birds were among the many protected birds that were being regularly shot, BirdLife Malta said yesterday.

"The illegal killing of protected birds is rampant and was taking place even before the hunting season opened," BirdLife said.

"It is clear that there is no political will to deal with the matter," it added.

BirdLife warned the authorities that failure to live up to the commitments made with the EU could spell big problems for Malta.

The group said it was dismayed that just months from EU membership, the migration massacre in Malta was yet again a sickening case of déjà vu.

"Malta made a commitment with the EU to enforce the bird protection laws. We need a proper long-term strategy for law enforcement and for adequate resources to be directed without delay to solve this issue," BirdLife said.

It commended the prompt action taken by the ALE and Mepa staff that led to the arrest of some individuals following the shooting of flamingos at Marsaxlokk.

But the group lamented that the illegal hunting problem was "clearly beyond the control of the under-staffed ALE team. Despite the commendable efforts of this section, illegal hunting is largely unchecked in Malta, especially in Gozo, where enforcement is practically inexistent. The ALE is too small and ill-equipped to deal with illegal hunting," BirdLife said.

The bird group said it had been receiving many reports of illegal hunting all over the country, even before the hunting season opened last Monday.

On Tuesday morning, at least five of a flock of 14 night herons (kwakk) were killed at Mizieb, an area controlled by the hunters' federation. More illegal hunting was reported from Chadwick Lakes and the Buskett and Dingli areas.

BirdLife noted that the flamingos killed were shot from within a nature reserve, thus enabling the confiscation of the shotguns.

It complained that changes to the laws in February had removed the automatic confiscation of the firearm if protected birds were shot outside a nature reserve.