A flock of greater flamingos were shot by at least one illegal hunter standing on the shoreline in Qawra in full view of people passing, BirdLife said.

It said the flock flew overhead across Salina Bay. Three are thought to have been killed, falling into the sea, while two others landed injured. A third injured flamingo was also seen flying very low around Mellieha Bay.

BirdLife said it passed information to the Administrative Law Enforcement about the identity of a suspect and it was waiting for the police to take action.

The flock, of around 40 flamingos, was first spotted in the south heading north, following the coastline as far as St Paul’s Bay, where the birds are believed to have roosted overnight near St Paul’s Islands.

As the birds attempted to continue their migration they came under fire, with at least three of them seriously injured and three most probably killed. The remaining birds were seen flying north towards Gozo.

BirdLife and the ALE are trying to recover the injured birds for rehabilitation. While in Salina the BirdLife team observed a flock of seven grey herons, one of which had a visible gunshot injury.

BirdLife said it has recovered 40 dead protected birds over the last four weeks and observed around 200 protected birds being shot at and flying with gunshot injuries.