The Ministry for Gozo, has announced that the song thrush trapping season will open on Tuesday, the 20th of October and will remain open until Thursday, the 31st of December, both dates included.

The golden plover trapping season opens on Sunday, the 1st of November until Sunday, the 10th of January 2021, both dates included.

The permitted times for trapping song thrush and golden plover are from two hours before sunrise to two hours after sunset, during all days of the season. Night trapping is prohibited, the Ministry said.

The Ministry for Gozo said that the national song thrush quota is 5,000 and the national golden plover quota is 700.

The season for the species closes as soon as its national quota is reached. There are no individual quotas, neither seasonal nor daily.

The Ministry stated that any song thrush or golden plover caught wearing a scientific ring or satellite-tag caught must enter their details on the form issued in the name of the trapper (not reported via SMS) received with the special license and be released immediately.

The ring forms and the calendar with the dates when the trapper went trapping must all be returned to MaltaPost as indicated in a letter being sent to all trappers in January 2021.

Up to two single-traps can be used from one stone hut can be used as long as they are registered for the year 2020 and included in the list of coordinates published by the Wild Birds Regulatory Section (WBRU) on its website, the Ministry said.

The weave of the net for just song thrush, or both song thrush and golden plover together needs to be no less than 35mm x 35mm, up to a maximum of 38m² for every net. Nets used for just golden plover must have a weave which is no less than 45mm x 45mm, up to a maximum of 60m² for every net.

Golden plovers and song thrush used for calling must wear a single-use ring: red for plovers and yellow for song thrush.

Decoy birds allowed is up to a total of 10 (eg: 8 golden plovers and 2 song thrush) even if there is more than one licensed person on the same trapping station. Use of pre-recorded bird callers (whistles) is not permitted.

Any birds caught must be reported immediately by SMS to the number indicated in condition 13 of the special license.

Anyone who reports a catch of malice or a plover will receive a letter in January 2021 with the amount of rings they want to buy from MaltaPost.

Each trapper is legally obliged to report what he has caught immediately, as explained in the special license, the Ministry said. The season for the relevant species is closed once the quota for that species is reached. Such a quota is as required by the Birds Directive and must be respected in order to ensure that the derogation is implemented correctly.

File photo BLM

Permalink: Trapping for song thrush opens Tuesday and golden plover on 1st November