Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/497863
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 19 APRIL 2015 Opinion 22 T here is a certain symmetry to the fact that the first victim of illegal hunting this spring happened to be (of all birds) a cuckoo. OK, OK, before you all bring your hankies out… let me say up front that this is not going to be another birdbrained epitaph for the cuckoo shot last Wednesday. Enough tears have been shed over that particular bird already; and what with all the lamentation and gnashing of teeth still going on in the background, all that remains is to give it a State funeral, and fly the palace flags at half-mast. Nor is this going to be a defence of the man who shot that bird – the 'cuckoo-killer', as he has been so predictably dubbed – even though I am inclined to actually believe him when he claims it was a genuine mistake (or at least, that the claim is in itself believable, whether true or not). These things do happen, even to seasoned birdwatchers. Only when it happens to birdwatchers, the bird doesn't usually get to pay for the mistake with its life. And the birdwatchers themselves don't get hauled to court, either… with the result that they will never, ever have to actually admit to the mistake in public. But it's a mistake I've made myself… in my green and salad days as a lesser-spotted birdwatcher with the MOSY. A turtle dove and a cuckoo might look completely dissimilar in close-up photographs; but out in the field it's another story, especially if the birds are seen in flight at a distance. Both are roughly the same size, and the tail (a key bird identifier) is roughly the same shape, with similar markings. The rest of the cuckoo is mostly bluish-grey, and the turtle-dove mostly pink-and- gold… and while that may sound like a stark contrast, in truth colour is not always a reliable guide. The turtle dove displays a conspicuous flash of greyish-blue with its wings open and tail spread: i.e., in full flight. Meanwhile, the cuckoo's plumage is soft and velvety, and depending on the light its exact tint is not always obvious at a glance. Most important of all, the two birds have very similar flight patterns: both tend to burst suddenly out of nowhere, and their spasmodic wing-beating rhythm and general flight trajectory seem to belong to the same basic avian school of aerodynamics. So yes, it is easy to confuse the two species. You need to get a good, proper look to notice their distinguishing features: the cuckoo's white underside, or the length of its beak and tail (though similarly-shaped, the cuckoo's tail is longer and slightly V-shaped); the entirely different head-shape (unlike doves, cuckoos have no distinct neck to speak of – their head just tapers towards the beak), and one or two of the individual markings (speckled wings and for turtle dove, underbelly stripes for cuckoo, etc). Only then can you identify the bird with 100% accuracy. You need, in other words, to look at it for more than two seconds before pulling the trigger. All things considered, then, the plea of 'mistaken identity' by no means exculpates the cuckoo- killer of this heinous crime. On the contrary, I thought it was a pretty lousy excuse. After an entire 'Yes' campaign based on how very misunderstood the hunting community really is… about its deep-rooted respect for the law, and the hunters' full cognisance of their own responsibilities as armed men roaming the countryside… the least I expected was for a hunter who also appeared on a campaign billboard to actually take a good look at his first bird of the season before killing it. But no, by his own admission, he just shot the first bird he saw that 'might have been' a turtle dove... leaving a 50% chance that it 'might have been' a cuckoo… and incalculable odds that it 'might have been' any of the dozens of other birds that might also reasonably be mistaken for a dove… but what the heck? It's a bird. BANG! But people, people… a little perspective, please. The man shot a cuckoo. He didn't molest a child, or commit a war crime. Nor did he wipe out the entire Cuculidae genus, either. Let's not get too carried away by the rancour of having failed to put a stop to this lunacy when we had the chance. We did not fail in that objective because of this one hunter. So it makes no sense to vent half a nation's anger and disappointment on him alone. And besides: in a sense we should almost be grateful to him, too, for reminding us how justified our misgivings all along were. However you choose to interpret the incident – regrettable accident, or wilful, premeditated cuckoo-cide in the first degree – it still points towards the same negligent, 'shoot-first- ask-questions-later' attitude that has permeated this entire issue from the very beginning. 'If it flies, it dies', remember? And if it dies … well, it doesn't really matter whether it was shot by mistake or on purpose. It all ends the same way: blood, lead and feathers. Still, it remains the thing it is: a dead cuckoo, shot illegally in spring. Hardly anything new about that, either. It's been happening each year for generations. And it's also what the Maltese people voted for last Saturday. So next time you feel a knot in your throat One won't make it to the Raphael Vassallo