A man was caught red-handed while hunting illegally on Sunday and is expected to face court action shortly, BirdLife Malta said.
It said one of its volunteers spotted the man shooting and picking up a protected Eurasian Collared-dove near Marsascala. He was arrested by the police soon after.
As the police scoured the area for other birds, they found three dead Tree Pipits. They then stumbled upon a cage trap which contained 21 European Turtle-doves and a Eurasian Collared-dove. The birds were confiscated and passed on to BirdLife Malta for rehabilitation.
Those birds could have been used as live decoys or forced into captive-breeding, BirdLife said. They will be released once the hunting season is over.