Updated 2.40pm with police reaction below.

Bird callers “went silent” after uniformed police called out to investigate them in Gozo last Sunday turned up in a patrol car, the man who reported them claimed.

As a result, the bird callers got away with it, said Mark Sciberras, who captured their piercing sounds on video as he was out enjoying the Gozitan countryside.

He was walking through Għadira ta’ San Raflu, a protected rare freshwater pool, when he heard the callers, spread out in several hides, and reported them to the police.

Two officers got to the spot straightaway but their arrival – in a patrol car – prompted the callers “to fall silent”, Sciberras said.

“The fact that this was both illegal and happening on a stormy evening when birds were seeking shelter is just disgusting,” the nature lover said.

“As soon as the police arrived they saw us and they stopped. It was like a child’s game – ridiculous,” he said.

“Rangers in plain clothes would be able to stamp out the practice, especially as the noise identifies the location of these criminals.”

This was not the first site where he has heard the bird callers, he said. In just over a week, he spotted them in Mtaħleb and in Il-Qaws (Dingli) too.

“The use of illegal bird callers is so widespread and rampant that it makes a mockery of any purported law enforcement,” he told Times of Malta, adding that the video does not do justice to the actual “cacophony of shrill bird callers” that made it impossible to stay in this beautiful area for long.

Last month, following numerous reports, BirdLife Malta’s head of conservation Nicholas Barbara said the use of bird callers was completely out of hand and police were overwhelmed by the legal loopholes they faced in trying to enforce the law.

Actual possession of a bird caller is not illegal in the country so successful prosecution depends on proof that the caller was being used for hunting or trapping.

To make matters worse, in Gozo there is no Environmental Protection Unit (EPU), the body tasked with environmental policing, a spokesperson for the NGO said.

“Officers from the EPU are trained and more equipped than regular officers to deal with the situation of bird callers. They will often show up in plain clothes,” BirdLife communications manager Nathaniel Attard said.

“But because they are absent in Gozo, the district police are left to handle the situation there.”

Since the law was changed in 2015, those caught no longer have to face court action but only a fine of €250.

Police explain their actions

In a reaction, the police said that the Gozo district last Sunday at about 5pm received a phone call regarding the use of bird callers in the vicinity of Għadira San Rafflu, limits of Kerċem, however when the officers arrived on site, the bird callers were switched off, and no one was seen. Several patrols in the area were conducted to no avail.

The police explained that those using bird callers are liable to an administrative fine.

"The police are doing their upmost effort to curb the illegal use of bird callers, and in the past days, several bird callers were found in different areas and confiscated," the police said. 

Between November and December, 2020, officers from the EPU (Environmental Protection Unit) and the Gozo District Police confiscated four bird callers, three were found unattended (two in Kerċem and another one in Xewkija), and one  was confiscated off a hunter while in Żebbuġ, an administrative fine was issued against the hunter. 

Between November and December, 2020, the officers in Malta from the EPU confiscated 28 bird callers that were found unattended and 76 individuals were booked after being found in possession of bird callers.

All officers from the EPU and District are uniformed officers.