Slaughter of the songbirds

BEFORE dawn in Cyprus, the air rings with birdsong but it is not real.

- By Steph Spyro

Hidden in the undergrowth of bushes across the Mediterranean island are gizmos that broadcast a manufactured chorus.

The pieces of technology mimic the calls of migrating songbirds and draw the unsuspecting creatures down into carefully placed killer traps each day.

Around 450,000 songbirds, including some journeying to Africa from the UK, are slaughtered each year when they become ensnared in fine-mesh nets or stuck to branches smeared with glue.

Thrushes, wagtails, owls, wheat-ears, hoopoes and falcons have all been found stuck in the traps.

Illegal hunters also take aim at the skies by firing shots at species like buzzards and bee-eaters. Naturalist Chris Packham and his zoologist stepdaughter Megan McCubbin blame the vanishing dawn chorus on a delicacy called ambelopoulia.

The traditional dish - made from pickled or grilled songbirds has been banned for decades, but a lack of enforcement and prosecutions means Cyprus remains an industrialised killing ground.

The sale, possession and preparation of ambelopoulia has been illegal in the country since 1974.

However, some restaurants continue to serve it covertly under a bed of lettuce, while other locals eat it in the privacy of their homes.