A highly protected Black Kite, known in Maltese as an Astun Iswed, was show down in yet another episode of illegal hunting as it made its way over Malta on its way north to its European breeding grounds.

The incident happened at around 6:50am in Mtarfa, with a member of the public witnessing the bird be shot and then filming the grim discovery.

The police were called on site and collected the bird to hand it over to the government veterinarian.

BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana reacted: “Once again this is proof of the rampant illegal hunting taking place across our islands which unfortunately is not an exception but has become the norm.”

“This is a symptom of pampered hunters and trappers that in the past years have seen all they demanded come true. Prime Minister Robert Abela has been bending over backwards in more ways than one to appease the hunting lobby, including with trapping and hunting derogations that will land Malta at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) once again”, Sultana said.

BirdLife said that the video has also been sent to the Maltese Members of Parliament and Malta’s MEPs, along with the European Commission, and they desperately asked for immediate action to stop this.

“We call on the general public to support us by becoming BirdLife Malta members and we also request the European Union to take all the necessary measures to ensure the safety of birds migrating over Malta this spring while heading north to their breeding grounds in Europe”, the NGO said.

It is the second incident of illegal hunting reported in two days, after BirdLife yesterday reported how two protected ospreys had been shot - one in Gozo and one in Delimara. 

Malta's highly controversial spring hunting season is set to open next month.