The hunters' federation (FKNK) yesterday asked where were the millions of birds that BirdLife Malta had predicted since spring hunting and trapping for quail and turtledove were banned for the first time this year, and the second year running in the case of trapping for seven species of finch.
It made its point on what should have been the outcome of the ban on spring hunting and trapping at Buskett Gardens - the "ideal" spot to see and hear the turtledoves and the finches in question.
Quail was excluded from the list because Buskett Gardens are not its habitat and the federation said it had no intention of taking anyone for a ride.
"We should be seeing fledglings flying, or at least hearing them sing... They never have and never will," FKNK PRO Joe Perici Calascione, said, pointing out the total silence at Buskett that should have been a haven for these birds.
The federation presented journalists with recordings of the sounds made by each species to highlight their absence, which it said, should have been present in their numbers in Buskett.
The federation maintained that it had been suffering the results of misinformation for years, hearing how millions of birds were killed and that they did not breed on the island simply because they were shot and trapped in spring.
FKNK suspected that the incorrect information on the International Union for Conservation of Nature website that these nine species were native of Malta was passed on to it by BirdLife, and insisted that they could not even be called resident.
"We have no alternative but to use the term BirdLies because we do not know where their limit lies," the federation said. It reiterated its expectations that the media would be fair, and not biased in favour of BirdLife, which it accused of deceit.
BirdLife was now focusing on exaggerating the harm that spring hunting had on the bird population.
It was so afraid of being caught out in its lie that millions of birds were caught in Malta, that it has refused to participate in a study on bird migration that the government commissioned independent, foreign experts to carry out and even ridiculed it, the federation continued. To further prove the point of unfair coverage, it said the important Face Med conference to discuss common aspects of hunting and trapping, recently hosted by FKNK, was poorly attended by the media.
The conference culminated in the Malta declaration to EU institutions that took a stand in support of the hunting of quail and turtledove in Malta.
Among the reasons in the declaration by representatives of the hunting organisations of Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain is that the island "hosts a negligible part of the migration between Europe and Africa, and the resulting harvest in an extremely limited period is insignificant, in no way jeopardising the conservation status of the populations of the birds in question".
The declaration sent a clear message, said Mr Perici Calascione: These Mediterranean countries know that Malta has no alternative and is so small and insignificant that it would not cause any harm to the conservation of any species. They are ready not to consider Malta's case as a precedent, he said.
The federation warned hunters to respect the regulations when the season opens in September, saying no abuse would be tolerated.
FKNK urged hunters and trappers not to fall for the provocation by BirdLife and its foreign friends, who would be here in September.