BirdLidfe Malta said today that the Spring hunting ban had led to a drastic decline in the number of shot protected birds, but shootings were picking up again during the summer.

It made its comment as it reported that a young Audouin’s Gull, a threatened species, was found with serious gun shot injuries at the Valletta Breakwater early this week (picture).

The bird was taken to a veterinary but had to be euthanized due to the extent of its injuries. Europe holds 75% of the global Audouin’s Gull population, with the majority of the highly localised breeding colonies located in Spain.

“There are no records of Audouin’s Gull breeding in Malta, so this bird must have fledged from its nest a few months ago in one of its European breeding colonies,” BirdLife Malta’s Conservation Manager André Raine said.

BirdLife said that over the last two months it had received several reports of illegal killing and trapping of protected birds including a number of breeding species. Among the birds that were shot were a Marsh Harrier, two Yellow-legged Gulls, a Little Bittern, a European Hobby and a Short-eared Owl.

“The number of protected shot birds we received during spring has declined drastically compared to previous years thanks to the spring hunting ban. However, poaching has started to pick up throughout the summer breeding season, as we have witnessed poachers targeting a new colony of Collared Doves in Gozo, and of several illegal cage traps being found for Turtle Doves scattered throughout the countryside. The rabbit hunting season has also been used by some hunters as a loophole to illegally shoot at birds,” continued Dr Raine.