Spring hunting season 2023: Illegalities observed during BirdLife Malta's Spring Watch

In 2023, the spring hunting season was open for two species: the Common Quail (Summiena) and European Turtle-dove (Gamiema). The season lasted for three weeks from 10th to 30th April, where Common Quail were legal to hunt during the entire time, with a national bag limit of 2,400 birds (0.3 birds per hunter).
The Maltese Government decided once again to authorise the hunting of the European Turtle-dove, despite its Vulnerable to Extinction status. 7,868 licensed hunters were out between the 18th and 30th April to shoot a national bag limit of 1,500 birds (0.2 birds per hunter).
BirdLife Malta's Spring Watch teams detected 132 illegalities during the season dates, but continued to have a presence in the countryside up until 3rd May, where further illegalities were recorded.
A total of 23 shot protected birds comprising of 15 species were handed over to BirdLife Malta and the police. These are just indicative of the scale of illegal killing of birds that happened under the guise of a derogation to the EU Birds Directive.
We would like to thank our volunteers who have helped us expose the failings of this derogation, where police presence was also evidentially lacking in the countryside. This is a summary of what was recorded during these three weeks by an average of just three teams out daily!
Footage by BirdLife Malta. Editing by Murat Gelir.