CONSERVATION OF WILD BIRDS (DECLARATION ON A DEROGATION FOR AN AUTUMN 2024 LIVE- CAPTURING SEASON FOR SONG THRUSH AND

CONSERVATION OF WILD BIRDS (DECLARATION ON A

DEROGATION FOR AN AUTUMN 2024 LIVE-CAPTURING

SEASON FOR SONG THRUSH AND GOLDEN PLOVER)

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 549.170

CONSERVATION OF WILD BIRDS (DECLARATION

ON A DEROGATION FOR AN AUTUMN 2024 LIVE-

CAPTURING SEASON FOR SONG THRUSH AND

GOLDEN PLOVER) REGULATIONS

18th October, 2024

LEGAL NOTICE 268 of 2024.

The title of these regulations is the Conservation of Wild

Birds (Declaration on a Derogation for an Autumn 2024 Live-

capturing Season for Song Thrush and Golden Plover) Regulations and

these regulations shall be read in conjunction with the Conservation of

Wild Birds (Framework for Allowing a Derogation Opening an

Autumn Live-Capturing Season for Song Thrush and Golden Plover)

Regulations.

(1)

For the purpose of these regulations and within

the meaning of Article 9 of Directive 2009/147/EC of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the

conservation of wild birds, hereinafter referred to as the "Birds

Directive", given that in Malta, Golden Plovers and Song Thrushes

neither breed in the wild nor in captivity, the Minister is hereby

ascertaining the absence of another satisfactory solution for the

acquisition of live specimens from these two (2) species other than by

means of live-capturing using clap-nets as the most selective method

of capture* * in small numbers, and insofar as it is absolutely necessary

to replenish the limited stock of live-birds in captivity for use as live-

decoys during open hunting seasons.

(2)

For the purpose of these regulations and within the

meaning of Article 9 of the Birds Directive, the Minister took into

consideration the favourable conservation status of the Golden Plover

and Song Thrush at both the European ("Stable" and "Moderate

Increase" respectively) and EU levels ("Secure"), and also took into

consideration their IUCN classification as "Least Concern" † *.

** A report on selectivity and mesh-size and how the clap-net system operates was

presented by the Wild Birds Regulation Unit to the Malta Ornis Committee on 31 July

2019 (included as Annex A to the Committee minutes of the same meeting) and is

available on the site: https://wbru.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/

oMinThirtstJul19.pdf.

†* The August 2024 report on the conservation status of the Golden Plover (Pluvialis

apricaria altifrons) and Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) was presented to the Ornis

Committee on 5 September 2024 and is available on the site: https://wbru.gov.mt/en/

resources/reports-and-statistics/other-reports/.

CONSERVATION OF WILD BIRDS (DECLARATION ON A

DEROGATION FOR AN AUTUMN 2024 LIVE-CAPTURING

SEASON FOR SONG THRUSH AND GOLDEN PLOVER)

The terms and expressions used in these regulations,

unless the context otherwise requires, shall have the same meaning

assigned to them in the Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations,

hereinafter referred to as the "Wild Birds Regulations" and in the

Conservation of Wild Birds (Framework for Allowing a Derogation

Opening an Autumn Live-Capturing Season for Song Thrush and

Golden Plover) Regulations.

For the purposes of these regulations, the Golden Plover

and Song Thrush are classified as non-breeding passage migrants in

Malta that qualify as huntable species under the Birds Directive (MT

Annex IIB). In this context, the "small numbers" requirement within

the meaning of Article 9(1)(c) of the Birds Directive shall be

understood as "a sample in the order of 1% of the total annual

mortality of the population in question". For the purposes of these

regulations, "population in question" shall be understood, with regard

to these migratory species, as the population of those regions within

the territory of the European Union from which come the main

contingents passing through the region to which the derogation applies

during its period of application, namely Finland and Sweden in the

case of the Golden Plover (Wetlands International, 2009) and

Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary in the case of the Song Thrush

(Cramp et al, 1988; Spina & Volponi, 2008), as detailed in the report

on the conservation status of the these two species which was

presented to, and endorsed by the Ornis Committee * **.

The 1% of the total annual mortality of Malta’s reference

population of Golden Plover and Song Thrush shall be calculated as

follows

Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria altifrons)

Minimum breeding success: 3.64 birds per pair (172,089 x 3.64)

= 626,404

Mortality rate of first year birds: (626,404 x 53.33%) = 334,061

Mortality rate of adult birds: (344,178 x 27%) = 92,928

Total annual mortality: (334,061 + 92,928) = 426,989

1% of total annual mortality: (426,989 x 1%) = 4,270

Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)

Minimum breeding success: 4 birds per pair (664,306 x 4) =

*** The August 2024 report on the conservation status of the Golden Plover (Pluvialis

apricaria altifrons) and Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) was presented to the Ornis

Committee on 5 September 2024, and is available on the site: https://wbru.gov.mt/en/

resources/reports-and-statistics/other-reports/.

CONSERVATION OF WILD BIRDS (DECLARATION ON A

DEROGATION FOR AN AUTUMN 2024 LIVE-CAPTURING

SEASON FOR SONG THRUSH AND GOLDEN PLOVER)

2,657,225

Mortality rate of first year birds: (2,657,225 x 56%) = 1,488,046

Mortality rate of adult birds: (1,328,612 x 43.3%) = 575,289

Total annual mortality: (1,488,046 + 575,289) = 2,063,335

1% of total annual mortality: (2,063,335 x 1%) = 20,633

For the purposes of establishing the season for the live-

capturing of wild birds in Autumn in accordance with sub-paragraphs (ii)

and (iii) of the fourth proviso to regulation 10(6) of the Wild Birds

Regulations, and for the purposes of these regulations, the season for

the live-capturing of Song Thrush and Golden Plover for the year

2024, hereinafter referred to as "the Autumn live-capturing season",

shall be on the following dates

(a)

live-capturing of Song Thrush between 20th

October 2024 and 31st December 2024, both dates included;

and

(b)

live-capturing of Golden Plover between 1st

November 2024 and 10th January 2025, both dates included

Provided that the provisions of these regulations shall

cease to have effect and no live-capturing activity shall be permitted in

the event that the Minister orders, by notice in the Gazette, that the

Autumn live-capturing season is to terminate immediately or at a date

as specified by the Minister.

For the purposes of these regulations, the Autumn live-

capturing season shall be in accordance with the provisions of the

Conservation of Wild Birds (Framework for Allowing a Derogation

Opening an Autumn Live-Capturing Season for Song Thrush and

Golden Plover) Regulations.

The Autumn live-capturing licence, which shall be

issued upon the payment of a nominal fee of fifty-five euro (€55), shall

set the overall seasonal bag limit for the Autumn live-capturing season

at five thousand (5,000) for Song Thrush, equivalent to 0.242% of the

total annual mortality of the reference population, and seven hundred

(700) for Golden Plover, equivalent to 0.164% of the total annual

mortality of the reference population, as the total number of birds

which may be captured by means of live-capturing under the authority

of all issued licences taken together.