In Cyprus, three chiffchaffs are fighting for their lives.
The birds are trying to escape, but they don't have a chance.
These glue covered sticks won't let any bird go.
The three victims aren't alone in their fate.
Every year, millions of European songbirds are illegally shot
or trapped while migrating across the Mediterranean.
But what's behind this bird slaughter?
And is anyone brave enough to stop the hunters?
For many birdwatchers,
the spring migration period is the most exciting time of the year.
When chiffchaffs, nightingales and many more birds can be spotted and heard again.
Sadly, every year, fewer and fewer feathered friends return to their gardens.
But why is the number of songbird species that overwinter abroad declining so fast?
To find out, we need to start at the beginning:
These songbirds are migratory birds.
Migratory birds leave their breeding grounds when the breeding season is over,
spend the winter elsewhere and then return the following spring.
Many of the birds are insectivores, like warblers or swallows,
and simply can't find any food in Central Europe during a cold winter.
Ornithologists believe their migration is triggered by a combination of change in the length of the day,
falling temperatures, depletion of food supplies and genetic predisposition.
When exactly migratory birds leave depends on the length of their breeding season
the distance to their wintering grounds.
Some species leave for the South as early as the end of August.
Others can be observed here until November.
The same applies to their return, while some arrive back as early as February.
Others don't return until May.
At least 4000 species of bird are regular migrants.
That's about 40% of the world's total bird population.
Their flight routes and wintering grounds vary from species to species.
Some birds migrate only a short distance south, while
others travel halfway around the world.
What they all have in common is that they use the same routes year after year.
These major flyways are like highways for birds.
When European songbirds make their way to their winter grounds,
most of them use "The Black Sea-Mediterranean Flyway".
This route starts in northern and western Siberia and leads across
Asia, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to Northern Africa.
The birds use the flyway to spend the winter in Africa
and the warmer countries just north of the Mediterranean.
But the shocking thing is that millions of them never return.
The singing birds are on the hunters menu,
quite literally.
Their migration route takes them over dangerous terrain.
In a paper published in the scientific journal "Bird Conservation International"
researchers pointed out the 20 worst locations
throughout the Mediterranean for birds.
These places are responsible for illegally killing
or capturing millions of songbirds each year.
Top of the list are Italy, Egypt,
Syria, Lebanon and Cyprus.
The hunters kill the birds mainly for food, sports, or for use as cage birds.
These illegal killings do have a severe effect on Europe's migratory
songbird populations and are driving many species
to the brink of extinction.
Songbirds are the main target for bird hunter and trappers
in the Mediterranean area, the Middle East and North Africa.
Many of the animals are simply shot.
Others are brutally slaughtered or tortured to death.
On frequent flying routes.
Hunter's fake appealing resting sites, places with extra food and water around.
Often they install audio speakers which play specific songbird voices
or even place real birds into cages to lure their prey.
The passing migratory birds hear their mates singing.
Feel safe and take a seat to refill after a long journey.
And then they are trapped.
Thrushes and larks are caught with nets
to be used as live decoys for hunting.
Finches are often caught with clap nets, gillnets
or small cage traps to be kept or sold as cage birds.
Chiffchaffs, robins and fieldfares are trapped with bow traps or lime sticks.
These sticks are covered with glue and trap any bird that lands on them.
The more the victim tries to escape, the more firmly they stick.
Birds that don't perish from the initial shock can struggle in pain for hours.
The reason for this shocking activity can be summarized in one word:
ambelopoulia, a "traditional" dish made of songbirds
which are boiled or grilled and eaten whole.
In Cyprus, the large scale modern industry is a far cry from ancient tradition.
Although it's been banned since 1974,
demand for this delicacy drives a lucrative black market.
Restaurants that serve this dish can fetch up to €80 per plate.
Run by career trappers, some of whom are involved in organized crime,
the songbird racket can make €15 million per year.
The hunters know that their barbaric methods are illegal,
but if they don't face any consequences,
they keep working.
A brave group of conservationists and volunteers is now trying to change exactly this.
The "Committee Against Bird Slaughter", or CABS for short,
specializes in working to stop bird poaching.
CABS was established in 1975 and is now operating bird protection
camps at various Mediterranean poaching hotspots.
The NGOs top priority is to protect and save birds.
The operation teams identify and close down poaching sites, disrupt hunters
and help to bring legal prosecutions to those who can be convicted.
They work endlessly because they know that trapped birds don't have much time.
For two of the poor chiffchaffs trapped in Cyprus,
the CABS team was fast enough.
These birds will be able to fly again
Thanks to the bird guards.
I love to listen to the songbirds in our neighborhood,
and I'm thankful for NGO's like CABS who fight for safe flyways.
If you want to support the team,
just follow the links below.
And don't forget to check out our other conservation stories which are linked here.