Update 2 | Appeal for information on shooting of Hungarian Spoonbill

Updated with reaction of Kaccaturi San Ubertu at 2:10pm

The bird was shot at around 15:50 following which two men in a blue car drove along the main road, stopping close to the shot bird.

BirdLife said one of the men got out of the car, recovered the shot Spoonbill, and got back into the car which then drove off. The number plates, covered by cloth, could not be read.

The Spoonbill had been ringed with a unique combination of six coloured rings as a chick in Fejer, Hungary on the 13 June 2009. This was part of a Europe wide study on Spoonbills by a group of specialist ringing researchers.
 
It arrived in Malta earlier this week, staying in the Salina Bird Sanctuary Area until it was shot yesterday.
 
"This is the second time in just nine months a protected bird ringed as a chick as part of a conservation project abroad has been shot down in the Salina Bird Sanctuary. In October 2010 a German ringed Osprey was recovered by BirdLife Malta after being shot in the sanctuary. Although the bird was sent to a rehabilitation centre in Germany it could not overcome its severe shotgun injuries," Geoffrey Saliba, BirdLife campaigns coordinator said.
 
"Yesterday’s shooting consists of a whole set of contraventions. Spoonbills are protected birds under national and EU law, it is currently closed season, no hunting may take place in Bird Sanctuaries, and no shooting may take place within 50 metres of a main road," Saliba said.
 
The Hungarian Spoonbill was shot down and recovered within metres of the very busy coast road in broad daylight. BirdLife appealed for anyone with information to contact the police or BirdLife Malta.

The police can be reached on 21224001. BirdLife Malta can be reached on 21347646.

Kaccaturi San Ubertu (KSU) has condemned the shooting of a protected Spoonbill, but was equally obtuse about BirdLife Malta. "Unfortunately though many relevant details of the perpetrators are known to Birdlife Malta. their prowess at close up photography did not serve to identify the perpetrators," secretary Mark Mifsud Bonnici said.

"We urge any member of the public that might have witnessed this lengthy incident to forward any relevant details to the police and augur that apart from providing excellent pictures of birds and sensational news BirdLife Malta might also consider providing incriminating proof of the law breakers they witness," Mifsud Bonnici said.