Updated 1.30pm

Spring hunting season begins on Easter Sunday and will run until April 21, with hunters told they can only hunt quail. 

But with the season timed to coincide with the peak migration period of the protected turtle dove, bird activists are concerned that the Maltese countryside is about to be subjected to a poaching free-for-all. 

Birdlife Malta have produced a video highlighting differences between quail and turtle dove, in an attempt to educate the public about the two bird species and help them report suspicious hunting activity. 

Enforcement requirements stipulated by law. Photo: Parliamentary secretariat for animal rights

While quails are brown, about 15cm long and look like small chickens, the turtle dove is greyish with white on its neck and looks more like a pigeon. 

Quails migrate at night and remain low and hidden inside vegetation. The turtle dove, on the other hand, arrives early in the morning and flies openly between trees. 

READ: Hunters and bird lovers disagree on enforcement

Hunters with dogs are most likely after quail, Birdlife CEO Mark Sultana explains in their #NotAQuail video, while those crouched inside hides are most likely after a protected species such as the turtle dove. 

In a statement announcing the video, Birdlife noted that an Ornis Committee meeting to plan hunting enforcement was mysteriously cancelled this week for "unforseen circumstances". 

As a result, the NGO noted, the number of registered hunters for this spring's quail hunting season remains unknown, with no answers forthcoming from the Wild Birds Regulation Unit. 

6,754 licences

Birdlife's request for information about hunting licences was satisfied in a separate statement by Animal Rights parliamentary secretary Clint Camilleri, which noted that 6,754 licenses had been issued for the upcoming spring hunting season. 

In the release, Mr Camilleri urged hunters to stick to the rules and to report all their catches immediately.

Along with the minimum enforcement contingent required by law (see table), WBRU officials would also be patrolling key hunting areas to keep an eye on hunters there, he added. 

A shot quail. Photo: Birdlife Malta

A shot turtle dove. Photo: BirdLife Malta