Illegal hunting has been on the rise in recent weeks as the spring migration takes off, with eight protected birds shot in the last two weeks, BirdLife Malta claimed.

BirdLife executive director Tolga Temuge said the organisation received daily reports of illegal hunting incidents. A purple heron, a protected bird of prey, had to have a wing amputated after it was shot down, he said.

The maimed bird, now confined to the Simar nature reserve in Xemxija, was one of the eight shot protected birds that BirdLife said it received over the past few weeks. The birds also include a Cory's shearwater, a grey heron, a night heron, a hoopoe and three marsh harriers.

Five of them died due to injuries or had to be put down and two, a marsh harrier and the night heron, were being rehabilitated, BirdLife Malta said. Over the same period last year, it had received two shot protected birds.

"We call on the government to stop seeing the hunting issue as a dispute between two sides and start dealing with it as a serious contravention issue on both a national and international level. All we ask from the government is to implement the law and that no one, including the FKNK administration, can be above the law," Mr Temuge said.

When contacted, hunting federation (FKNK) secretary Lino Farrugia said the law was there for everybody and the federation was against illegal practices: "We will not defend them."

BirdLife also highlighted entries on the FKNK's website where one post agreed with illegal hunting as a form of protest to show government hunters were not afraid of anyone, in the light on the ban on spring hunting.

Among the comments, seen by The Times, was one saying hunters did well to burn every bird they saw as a form of revenge since everything had been lost. A third comment said: "If only those who were against hunting grew a pair of wings..."

Mr Farrugia said he had not seen the comments, and although the forum was monitored, there were no filters and everybody could post a comment. He said if strict filters were introduced the forum would lose its authenticity.

"If anyone thinks the posts are against the law, they can investigate," he said, adding that comments represented personal opinions.

BirdLife said the comments clearly showed that certain federation members continued to post messages that encouraged illegal hunting, despite the ban.

It added that last year it had given evidence to the police about messages posted on the website calling for hunters to break the law as well as inciting violence.

"These recent postings show the federation is continuing to allow these kinds of messages to be posted on its website," it said.