More than 70 per cent of protected birds targeted by illegal hunters in the last two weeks were shot at in the afternoon hunting hours previously covered by the 3pm hunting curfew, according to Birdlife data released yesterday.

Last autumn, when a curfew prohibited hunting after 3pm between September 15 and 30, the proportion of protected birds targeted in the afternoon was 17 per cent.

This represents a 50 per cent increase in targeting of protected birds in the afternoon this year.

The data was recorded by Birdlife during its Raptor Camp.

Birds of prey are at their most vulnerable between 3pm and sunset, when they typically fly low searching for places to roost for the night, BLM conservation and policy officer Christian Debono said.

These are the very birds the curfew had been shown to protect so effectively, he said.

“Dismissing evidence that the curfew was effectively preventing birds of prey from being killed in the afternoon, the Government gave in to pressure from the hunting lobby, which claimed that permitting legal hunting in the afternoon would be the best way to reduce illegal shooting of protected birds, and extended hunting hours up to 7pm this year.

“The Government’s decision to change the curfew has proved disastrous for protected migrating birds,” said Mr Debono, “and this, to give favour to the hunting community that is doing very little to stop the illegalities within its midst.”

Raptor camp teams have also been monitoring hunting intensity since September 16 and found that more than 65 per cent of hunting was taking place in the morning.