The gentle purr of the turtle dove is an evocative sound of summer, says Birdlife International’s UK partner, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

It is difficult to see the ethic in shooting a bird before it has had the chance to breed, especially when that bird is in decline- Anne Zammit

The dove’s arrival in Europe from Africa each spring is announced by its deep, vibrating “turrrr, turrr” mating song, to which it owes its name.

Were it not for the insistence of Maltese hunters on their right to pick off wild turtle doves in spring, we might now be in a better position to enjoy the nesting season of the Streptopelia turtur with its soothing call.

According to EU documents related to hunting, turtle dove reproduction across member states ranges from the beginning of April with occupation of European breeding sites to the first 10 days of October when the full flight of young birds marks the end of nesting.

Birds of the order of Columbiformes are monogamous. Turtle doves pair for life, with the male bird as actively involved as the mother in taking care of their young at every stage. In the past, this bird has been known to breed in Malta but the last known nesting pair was shot in the 1960s.

Shots were heard for several weeks after the hunting season closed at end of April. It was not beyond reason to think that a number of turtle doves and their prospective mates could have been prevented from nesting and replenishing the species, by illegal hunters.

The turtle dove could potentially breed in Malta between May 10 and July 10 (according to a calendar which divides the 30-day month into three ‘decades’). Yet local hunters think nothing of shooting down a prospective parent turtle dove just 10 days away from its breeding time.

It is difficult to see the ethic in shooting a bird before it has had the chance to breed, especially when that bird is in decline.

The turtle dove’s steady decline in northern Europe has been put down to a number of causes. Among these are habitat destruction, such as the disappearance of hedges, the use of pesticides, and increasing drought in North African wintering grounds combined with over-hunting along migration flyways. Some turtle doves are non-migratory residents in Africa.

Generally, the turtle dove leaves its northern breeding areas by late September, with stragglers arriving in the Mediterranean as late as October. The broad-fronted passage of turtle dove in autumn sees the birds moving in a south-westerly direction from Eurasia.

Birds from western Europe may head for Morocco with a shorter sea crossing from Spain. Many cross the Balkans and Italy to Tunisia and Libya, often via Malta. But do the same birds take the same route home in spring?

Hunters have based their claim for a derogation on the anthropo-centric claim that the autumn take of turtle doves pales in comparison to the spring take, due to greater numbers passing this way as they head north in spring than on the southward passage in autumn.

The global population figures for this species do not give immediate cause for concern because of the bird’s wide range across Turkey and Russia.

The turtle dove has a low profile rating on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red data list of species heading for extinction. This global rating is seized upon every time turtle dove protection comes up for discussion in Malta.

However, in Europe the bird is on the decline while there are some resident populations in North Africa and even the sub-Saharan region which may be increasingly vulnerable to drought.

A strong decline of the turtle dove began in the mid-1970s, amounting to more than 50 per cent in western Europe. This has been mainly due to agricultural changes, development, and also because it is heavily hunted on passage through the Mediterranean countries.

The Maltese government railed against environmental sensibilities by flirting for votes with the hunter lobby and pushing for an expanding spring hunting derogation on the Birds and Habitats Directive.

This year, another controversial spring hunting season for turtle dove (and quail) opened on April 13. The Ornis committee, which operates within the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (with a mandate to protect Malta’s bird populations), is reported to have put forward its proposals for the highest possible quota, or bag, even before the number of how many turtle doves were downed last autumn is published, as required by the directive.

Birdlife officials on the Ornis committee reacted strongly when the chairman recommended the spring quota to be set at the maximum allowable without the requisite autumn carnet de chasse yet made available.

Unbelievably, the chairman also pleaded for the further extension of an ever-growing spring hunt season. The open season, wrangled under the infamous derogation, gets longer with each passing year. It started in 2010, on April 24,then in 2011 it opened 10 days earlier, with an extra day added on this year.

A 2009 update of the European Bird Census Council (whose motto is ‘Every bird counts’) shows the turtle dove to be in moderate decline. It is also listed as a Class 3 European Species of Conservation Concern (SPEC 3) and red-listed in Britain for its breeding decline. Streptopelia turtur is a priority species in the UK biodiversity action plan.

Operation Turtle Dove was launched in Britain last month by the RSPB, Pensthorpe Conservation Trust, Natural England and Conservation Grade (an accreditation organisation).

Wild plants providing the seed they feed on may be disappearing due to pesticide use.

The campaign aims to improve knowledge about turtle dove migration routes, how different populations might be connected and wintering ecology.

Since declines may be associated with changes in land-use and habitat quality, satellite tracking will be used to identify migratory routes used by turtle doves.

A spokesman for Operation Turtle Dove adds: “We need to quantify the scale and impact of legal and illegal hunting, both in Europe and elsewhere, and provide information that will inform a review and update of the European Commission management plan for European turtle dove.

“We will carry out this work by establishing collaborations with partners across the flyway, representing a unique and truly coordinated approach to address turtle dove conservation.”

anne.zammit@gmail.com

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