Almost half of hunters claim not to have caught any quail or turtledove last autumn

6,746 hunters out of the total 10,811 licensed ones did not report any turtle dove or quail catches during the last autumn hunting season.

According to Carnet de Chasse data, the booklet hunters fill to declare their catches, 2,480 Turtle Doves and 1,688 Quails were reported as hunted during last year’s autumn season. Reported bags were therefore lower than those reported in previous years.

The autumn season was temporarily suspended until 10 October to safeguard birds of prey and other protected birds migrating towards the south. The decision was taken following the killing of at least two White Storks and two Marsh Harriers in one week.

The government said the lower numbers was partly due to a poor extent of autumn migration, and the Prime Minister’s decision to close the season between 20 September and 11 October.

The government also published the results of a research study into the migratory influx of turtledove and quail carried out by environmental company Ecoserv during September and October 2014.

According to this study, which cost €116,230,  7,956 Turtle Doves and 45,683 Quails migrated over the Maltese Islands during September and October 2014.

During three weeks in April 2014, when Ecoserv carried out an identical study, some 24,922 Turtle Doves and 37,773 Quails were observed.

The results indicate that the extent of migratory influx of turtledove and quail during spring is higher than the migration in autumn.