Hunters who are willing to defy an international ban and shoot thousands of birds as they migrate from Africa to mainland Europe are being confronted by furious bird lovers in Malta. The Mediterranean island is a stopover for more than 100 species heading for northern nesting sites — oblivious to the local obsession for blasting birds out of the sky or trapping them under nets.

Malta has more than 16,000 registered hunters out of a population of 400,000 — by far the highest proportion in Europe — who regard the spring shoot as a part of island culture under threat from outsiders. They are especially angry this year because of a European Union attempt to silence their guns for ever at the European Court of Justice, viewed as the betrayal of a hunting concession to Malta when it joined the EU in 2004.

As hunting gets under way, the tension has increased further, with volunteer ornithologists arriving to monitor what they say is an annual massacre. According to International Animal Rescue Malta, last year gunmen claimed thousands of finches, quail and turtle doves as well as kestrels, hobbies, honey buzzards, owls, marsh harriers and a rare lesser spotted eagle.

Lino Farrugia, the president of the Maltese association that supports the hunt, said that it had been “instilled in the Maltese for generations” and there was little understanding of this. “I can assure you that the tension here is very high,” he said.

Mr Farrugia has called for calm after a couple of ugly incidents last year, including one alleged gunshot wound to a local ornithologist and the setting alight of several observers’ cars. “We know they \ are organising a camp this spring and we are trying to prevent confrontation,” he said. “It is not a birdwatching activity, it is a manhunt.”

Despite a general EU ban on shooting migrating birds before they can breed, the Maltese hunters argue that they have an opt-out allowing them to bag turtle doves and quail. For four years their Government has backed them but this year it has not opened the hunting season formally while the European Court of Justice decides whether the opt-out is legal.

The EU argues that, while an opt-out was discussed in 2004, Malta did not qualify because birds could still be shot on their way back in the autumn after breeding. An interim court order outlawing the spring shoot could be issued by the end of this week.

Grahame Madge, a spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said: “From our perspective, Malta has been contravening European law ever since they acceded to the EU. This has cost the lives of many tens of thousands of birds and makes them the villains of Europe when it comes to bird protection because it is one of the key migration points across the Mediterranean.

“They want to be able to shoot turtle doves and quail but many birds like swallows, warblers, osprey, honey buzzards, marsh harriers, purple herons and bitterns also stand a chance of being gunned down. Hunters have taken to hiring boats to shoot birds out of the sky over the sea before they reached the island.”

Across the 124sq miles (320sq km) of Malta, some hunters have already started shooting and many more are likely to defy a ban, arguing that their traditions are misunderstood.

Alfred Zammit, 63, said: “I could tell you it’s the thrill of the chase, the feeling of being at one with nature, the hope and happiness or disappointment at the day’s outcome, the pleasure of working my dogs, the satisfaction of providing wild fare — and you would still not have understood, unless you are a hunter yourself.

“Quite simply, it is a way of life. For the real hunters the hunt fills practically every moment of their lives, including their dreams.”

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