Hunters were accused yesterday of blowing the first cuckoos of spring out of the skies as the birds migrate to Britain.

Cuckoos have suffered a steep decline in the number reaching Britain since 1970, with hunting and shooting in Malta held to be a significant factor. Two ornithological groups called yesterday for Malta to honour its commitment to stamp out illegal hunting and trapping, made when the island joined the European Union in 2004.

Catching birds, for sport or to make them pets, is a tradition in Malta and the adoption of the EU Birds Directive as a condition of entry to the union was a source of great controversy. The directive bans the hunting of all birds in the spring, the breeding season, and limits it to a handful of species during the autumn. More than a million birds are estimated to be killed or caged each spring and autumn as they use the island as a stopover during migrations between Europe and Africa.

A study by Birdlife International shows that at least 14 species of bird travelling to Britain are shot or trapped in Malta. Among them is the cuckoo, which from 1970 to 2004 suffered a 44 per cent drop in numbers in this country. Estimates put the British population in summer at 13,000 to 26,000 pairs, with 3,000 to 6,000 in Ireland.

Other bird species shot in Malta that migrate to and from Britain include the goldfinch, spotted redshank, gannet, great skua and the short-eared owl.

A petition signed by 115,000 supporters of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds was presented yesterday to the Maltese Government. Grahame Madge, of the RSPB, said: “The shooting of cuckoos heading this way this spring is not only a crime against wild-life, it’s also robbing people of the harbinger of spring.”

The species is now being considered for emergency conservation measures. Its decline has surprised birdwatchers because it is found all over Britain and adapts to a range of habitats.

Apart from its distinctive call, the bird is best known for laying its eggs in the nests of other birds so that it does not have to rear its own young.

The other “fact” that everyone knows about cuckoos — that its springtime reappearance is noted on the letters page of The Times— is a myth: according to our digital archive we haven’t published a straightforward “first cuckoo” letter since 1940. The correspondence to the left explains why.

Letters to The Times

From Mr Fydekker, FRS, February 6, 1913

“Sir, While gardening this afternoon I heard a faint note which led me to say to my undergardener, who was working with me, ‘Was that the cuckoo?’ Almost immediately afterwards we both heard the full double note of a cuckoo. . . There is not the slightest doubt that the song was that of a cuckoo . . .”

From Mr Fydekker, FRS, February 12, 1913

“Sir, I regret to say that I have been completely deceived . . . The note was uttered by a bricklayer’s labourer in the neighbourhood of the spot whence the note appeared to come. I have interviewed the man, who tells me that he is able to draw cuckoos from considerable distances by the exactness of his imitation of their notes . . .”

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