ILLEGAL BIRD TRAPPING

CAGED | Song birds are being trapped and sold in Malta Holiday makers are not the only Brits to be found abroad. Our native song birds are being trapped and traded in Malta.
Inside Out goes on the trial of the bird trappers.
A typical wet and windy British winter yet again, but at least there’s the thought of spring sunshine and birdsong to look forward to - or maybe not.
The domestic British garden bird is in decline and in Kent the problem is not helped by the illegal bird trapping which is taking place.
Inside Out’s Paul Ross goes undercover to expose the illegal trapping and trading of British song birds.
Song birds for pets

A caged singing bird is a popular pet in MaltaMalta, popular holiday destination and home to 350,000 people, some of whom swap the traditional cat for a caged song bird as the family pet.
Such a popular commodity, the song birds in Malta have been over-hunted and numbers are now seriously low.
Rather than legally breeding song birds in captivity, many are choosing a far cheaper, but altogether crueller method of replenishing stocks. Their destination? Kent.
"We consider Kent to be one of the major centres of this trade. We’ve had a number of convictions over the past few years involving hundreds of birds, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds," explains RCPCA officer Martin Daley.
Brutal trapping methods

The methods the trappers employ to capture the birds can cause injury and distress, whilst almost half of the birds will be injured or die during transportation.

The chardonneray trap uses a caged bird to lure another one in One method of trapping is the Japanese mist net, the use of which is only allowed with a licence. Removing the birds from the net is a tricky business, but if a trapper is catching 20 birds at a time, then a handful would be considered an acceptable loss.
Another method is the chardonneray trap. This method uses a captured bird as bait, its song attracts a fellow bird who is encouraged to sit on the perch and trigger the trap.
A further and even more brutal method involves the use of bird lime. The lime is painted onto trees and a caged bird or tape recording of birdsong is used as bait. When a bird lands on the branch, it gets stuck to the lime.
Prosecution

The RSPCA can prosecute trappers under the Protection of the Wildlife and Countryside Act. Punishments range from £5,000 in fines, to six months in prison. However bird trappers it seems, can be difficult to track down and many have employed various tricks in order to pass their birds off as legally bred.
Birds that have been captured from the wild show signs of stressOne such trick is ringing the bird's leg, which should be done when they are just three days old. Most of the birds caught by trappers are much older and forcing a ring onto a thicker leg, can cause serious injury.
An uphill struggle

Faced with a strong hunting and bird trade lobby, the Maltese government are doing very little. In fact, ahead of joining the European Union, they have persuaded Brussels to allow the trade to continue in Malta for another four years.
The situation may seem impossible, but Martin and the rest of the RSPCA will continue the fight and for that, the British public and British song bird are grateful.
If you have any suspicions or information about bird trapping activity, the RSPCA would like to hear from you. Call them on this number 08705 555 999.