Yesterday afternoon the CABS team on Gozo found at Tas Salvatur a massive illegal cage trap with 14 Turtle Doves and 3 protected Collared Doves inside.

The Gozo police were alerted and deactivated the trap. However, CABS stated that “although they were likely wild caught the birds in the trap were neither seized nor released by the officers.”

Then this morning two joint CABS/ALE teams dismantled a total of 15 illegal electronic bird callers for Quail on Malta. These are static installations which consist of a digital player, loudspeakers, large batteries and a digital timer which activates the devices from midnight until the early morning.

CABS said that some of the devices were found locked up in metal boxes or embedded in concrete to protect them from being stolen or confiscated by the police. However, with the help of bolt cutters and other special heavy tools all installations were removed or destroyed. CABS announced that similar operations will be conducted in the course of the next weeks and months.

According to CABS the use of illegal bird callers for hunting and trapping is a widespread problem. “In early autumn most of the machines found in the countryside imitate the courtship song of Quails – a bird which migrates during the night – so hunters can shoot more of them the next morning. Bird callers are also massively used by bird trappers during the open trapping season for Golden Plovers from October to January,” the organisation said.

“Hunting and trapping with the help of pre-recorded bird calls is regarded as a method for the mass-killing of birds in the European Birds Directive and therefore also banned on Malta. Despite the fact that it is a widespread problem the use of bird callers was decriminalised by the government`s WBRU in 2013.”

After the revised rules came into force those caught using the illegal electronic callers no longer have to face court. The maximum fine now 250 Euros. “The result is a proliferation of bird callers in the countryside,” CABS Press Officer Axel Hirschfeld said.

Photos: Members of the two CABS teams with the seized devices

Permalink: Massive bird trap found on Gozo, clampdown on illegal bird callers – CABS