Updated 1pm 

Thirty per cent of illegal hunting incidents this year involved shooting at protected bird species, with the majority targeting protected turtle doves, BirdLife said on Tuesday.

Many of these happened during the last week of the spring hunting season, the NGO said, during which hunters were only permitted to hunt quail. 

BirdLife on Tuesday released a video summing up the findings of its annual Spring Watch camp, which monitored the 2018 spring hunting season for illegalities.

It will be submitting the video to the European Commission as part of a report on the 2018 spring hunting season.

The video presents a chronological account of illegalities witnessed every day of the season, summarising the main incidents encountered by BirdLife’s teams.

BirdLife said an average of two volunteer teams patrolled the countryside around Malta and Gozo every day of the season, encountering "148 illegal killing incidents." 

A BirdLife spokesman clarified that the term 'illegal killing incidents' refers to all attempts to shoot at a protected bird, even if it is unsuccessful. 

Although many such incidents targeted turtle doves, they were not the only protected bird species poachers sought to kill. 

Herons, common cuckoos, short-eared owls, European rollers, common and lesser kestrels, pallids, montagus and marsh harriers had all been subjected to illegal hunting, BirdLife said. 

During the spring hunting season, a total of 18 illegally shot protected birds were found by the public. Of these, 14 were handed to BirdLife and four were recovered by government authorities. This was more than in 2017, making the 2018 season one of the worst in past years.

This year's spring hunting season ended on April 21, but poachers have continued to illegally birds beyond that date. 

Birdlife said the Wild Birds Regulation Unit veterinarian confirmed that 27 protected birds had been shot from the beginning of the year up to the end of April.

This was more than in the same period in 2017, which had been the worst year in the past five years, the NGO said. 

Hunters say ECJ verdict is imminent

In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, the hunters' lobby said that it was now expecting the European Court of Justice to announce its verdict regarding bird trapping any day. 

Sources in Brussels, the FKNK said, had informed the lobby group that deliberations were over and the court had now wrapped up its work on the case. 

The European Commission had taken the Maltese government to court over its decision to apply a derogation to finch trapping, saying doing so was violated the EU's Birds Directive. 

The ECJ must now rule on that issue, with the court's advocate general having made it clear she believes Malta's current arrangements are a breach of EU law.