A video has emerged of a highly-protected bird after it was shot down at the Addolorata Cemetery, a protected area. 

The black kite was shot down on Saturday despite the closure of the contested spring hunting season.

Police have been called in and are investigating the case, Birdlife Malta said, pointing out that shots were reported being heard by members of the public in various areas.

Black kites are more commonly seen in spring rather than autumn, yet are not as common on migration as other birds of prey seen during spring.

Their appearance is unmistakable with a forked tail and their large size. As with other birds of prey, black kites do not like traversing large tracts of open sea, especially in inclement weather.

The kite would have possibly arrived in Malta the day before, and would have been just leaving its roost this morning waiting for the weather to warm up, BLM said. 

Turtle dove also shot down

Just an hour after BirdLife Malta was called to recover the injured black kite, the eNGO received another call regarding a turtle dove which was found injured just outside a school at Vittoriosa. The turtle dove was found bleeding from a wing and is being taken to the government vet.

"This year’s spring hunting season, which closed last Tuesday, served as a smokescreen for hunters to illegally target the turtle dove in spite of the fact it was supposedly only open for quail. This, following a conscious decision by the government to open a hunting season whose dates extended well into the peak migration period of the vulnerable turtle dove," BLM said.

The total of known illegally shot protected birds so far in 2019 now stands at 36

Read: Two protected birds shot, hours before start of spring hunting season