March 17, 2021 – Report from the Committee against Bird Murder e.V.

Milestone for the protection of migratory birds – European Court of Justice finally bans “glue traps” in France!

After years of negotiations, the European Court of Justice (EuGH) in Luxembourg ruled today that the use of “glue traps” to catch thrushes in Provence violates the EU’s Birds Directive.
The guideline has forbidden bird trapping since 1979, but permits to “preserve tradition”.

Countries such as France and Malta make extensive use of this option and to this day allow their hunters to catch birds using methods that have long been banned across Europe.

The judges ruled today that this licensing practice is incompatible with European law.

The decisive factor was that even protected bird species were accidentally caught in glue-branches and were injured to such an extent that they could no longer be released.

The ruling is therefore groundbreaking for the numerous other exemptions in France, but also a strong signal to other EU member states that allow bird trapping again and again.
The procedure was only made possible by the cooperation of the Committee against Bird Murder with its French partner LPO France.

We had documented the fishing practice on-site in detail and left all the results and the images we created to the LPO, which ensured that France ended up in court with great lobbying work.

Today is really a good day for the migratory birds!

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And I mean…In the past,  hunting with glue traps was used across France to catch and eat songbirds.
Hence the sticky mass trick. So the birds can catch without injuring their bodies.

In the meantime, however, this hunting has become more of a grueling sport, where the question is who catches the most blackbirds or other thrushes.

In the south of France, for example, the ortolan is still considered a delicacy in some regions.
An estimated 30,000 Ortolans are caught in France each year.

In some places in the south of France, hunting is probably tolerated by the police. And small fines of around 80 to 100 euros are hardly a deterrent if an Ortolan brings up to 300 euros on the black market.

Ortolan

Songbirds are not only hunted in France, but also in Italy and Cyprus. In Italy, mountain finches and chaffinches are considered delicacies.
More than 800,000 registered hunters target them every year.

Hunting songbirds is particularly criminal because many species are critically endangered and in need of protection.

A Life without birdsong would be a wasteland, but so are feeling only people who have morals and empathy, and therefore want to hear the songbirds and not eat them.

My best regards to all, Venus