Photos: The last song - the slaughter of birds along the Mediteranean
Across the Mediterranean, hundreds of millions of migratory birds are killed annually during the treacherous passage for food, profit, and cruel amusement. — An AP photo essay by David Guttenfelder
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Oct. 19, 2012 photo, a European robin, fatally pinned by its neck and foot in a poacher's trap, lies on the forest floor in the Italy's Brescia region. The practice is illegal in the region but poachers still use the traps, nets, and snares in Italy's northern woods. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this April 28, 2012 photo, a Cypriot anti-bird poaching squad officer uses a net to try to release a songbird from a cage containing a variety of birds kept for food and discovered in the yard of a Cypriot man. Across the Mediterranean, hundreds of millions of migratory birds are killed annually during the treacherous passage for food, profit, and cruel amusement. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept. 18, 2012 photo, a Bedouin hunter enters a tent where a string of dead songbirds, which he and his fellow hunters killed that morning, hangs in the Egypt's Western Desert. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this March 6, 2012 photo, an Albanian hunter with a shotgun takes a position in a tree inside Lake Skhoder, Albania as he hunts for migrating ducks. Across the Mediterranean, hundreds of millions of migratory birds are killed annually during the treacherous passage for food, profit, and cruel amusement. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this May 4, 2012 photo, a female black cap bird holds one its own feathers in its beak as it hangs from a gluey tree sap covered "limestick" placed by songbird poachers in Ayia Napa, Cyprus. The bird was found by activists from the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) and released. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this March 8, 2012 photo, a dead garganey duck, which was shot and killed by Albanian hunters as it arrived on the coast after migrating from North Africa, floats among duck decoys in the Mediterranean Sea near Velipoje, Albania. Across the Mediterranean, hundreds of millions of migratory birds are killed annually during the treacherous passage for food, profit, and cruel amusement. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Oct. 20, 2012 photo, two Italian forest rangers, members of a special police unit devoted to poaching, question a couple after they saw the man, at far right, carrying a shotgun near an illegal net in Brescia, Italy.(AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Oct. 16, 2012 photo, a songbird poacher’s tray of frozen songbirds sits on the pavement after it was confiscated by Italian forest rangers in the Italy's Brescia region. Illegally hunted birds are secretly served as a delicacy in restaurants and homes. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept. 19, 2012 photo, Egyptian hunters shoot migratory songbirds in Egypt's Al Maghrah oasis. After crossing the Mediterranean on their way south, songbirds must brave more than a thousand miles of Saharan desert only to be heavily hunted in this resting point in the desert. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Oct. 19, 2012 photo, an Italian forest ranger holds a dead European robin, fatally pinned by its neck and foot in a poacher's trap, while patrolling in the forest of Italy's Brescia region. The practice is illegal in the region but poachers still use the traps, nets, and snares in Italy's northern woods. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this March 3, 2012 photo, two Albanian hunters prepare their shotguns before sunrise at the edge of Lake Skhoder, Albania before wading into the water to hunt for migratory ducks. Across the Mediterranean, hundreds of millions of migratory birds are killed annually during the treacherous passage for food, profit, and cruel amusement. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Oct. 2, 2012 photo, an Egyptian man sits among his falcons at a raptor hunting camp in Egypt's Western Desert at dusk after a day of hunting for very valuable falcons. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Oct. 2, 2012 photo, a raptor is tethered to the hood of a truck to serve as a trapper’s spotter in Egypt's Western Desert. When the bird spies a falcon, it looks up, alerting the trapper to release a small bird wearing a snare, trapping the falcon if it comes in for the kill. Falconers pay up to $35,000 for a live falcon. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Oct. 20, 2012 photo, an Italian forest ranger and member of a special police unit devoted to poaching, checks out cages holding illegally captured songbirds as the property owners are questioned by other rangers in Brescia, Italy. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this March 9, 2012 photo, Albanian hunters in a duck blind on the beach near Velipoje, Albania open fire on a flock of ducks as they arrive from North Africa after migrating across the Mediterranean Sea. Across the Mediterranean, hundreds of millions of migratory birds are killed annually during the treacherous passage for food, profit, and cruel amusement. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept 29, 2012 photo, an Egyptian man walks along his long beachfront net as he collects European quail as they arrive after migrating across the Mediterranean Sea from Europe to the coast near Baltim, Egypt. Across the Mediterranean, hundreds of millions of migratory birds are killed annually during the treacherous passage for food, profit, and cruel amusement. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept. 18, 2012 photo, a Bedouin hunter in the Egypt's Western Desert searches one of the few trees in the area for migratory songbirds to stop and rest during their passage. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept. 21, 2012 photo, decoys made to look like water foul out of styrofoam, bottles, wire and features stand on a rock in the Mediterranean sea near Mersa Matruh, Egypt as hunters wait nearby for migratory birds arriving across the sea from Europe. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this May 4, 2012 photo, a dead bird hangs in a net surrounding the property fence of an orchard owner in Ayia Napa, Cyprus. Across the Mediterranean, hundreds of millions of migratory birds are killed annually during the treacherous passage for food, profit, and cruel amusement. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this April 30, 2012 photo, a badly injured Lesser White Throat hangs by it wings and feet from a gluey tree sap covered "limestick" placed by songbird poachers. The bird was found by activists from the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS), in the town of Ayia Napa, Cyprus and taken to the home of a fellow animal rights activist to be nursed back to health, but died soon after. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this May 4, 2012 photo, anti-songbird poaching activists from the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) sneak into a orchard where they found, and removed, dozens of freshly placed "limesticks", used to capture songbirds, in a citrus orchard in Ayia Napa, Cyprus. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Oct. 8, 2012 photo, an animal rights activist from the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) sucks the gluey tree sap from the wings of a female black cap bird that he rescued from a bird-poacher 's limestick trap in a orchard in Ayia Napa, Cyprus. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept. 22, 2012 photo, bird hunters and trappers rest and make tea along the Mediterranean coast near Mersa Matruh, Egypt. Across the Mediterranean, hundreds of millions of migratory birds are killed annually during the treacherous passage for food, profit, and cruel amusement. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this March 8, 2012 photo, an Albanian hunter collects dead ducks that he and his fellow hunters shot in the sea near Velipoje, Albania as flocks arrived from North Africa after migrating across the Mediterranean. Across the Mediterranean, hundreds of millions of migratory birds are killed annually during the treacherous passage for food, profit, and cruel amusement. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Oct. 2, 2012 photo, a raptor with a snare attached to its leg is used by Egyptian raptor hunters in Egypt's Western Desert. The bird and snare is used to lure and trap larger raptors as they come in for a kill. Falconers pay up to $35,000 for a live falcon. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept. 18, 2012 photo, a Bedouin hunter in the Western Desert shows off a dead Golden Oriole songbird as he returns with the day's kill to a hunting camp in Egypt's Western Desert. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept. 26, 2012 photo, stuffed raptors sit on top of cages filled with European quail at an Egyptian bird merchant's market stall in Rashid, Egypt. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept. 20, 2012 photo, an Egyptian boy catches a chiffchaff songbird under a huge net draped over a tree at his family's farm near al Daba, Egypt. The birds fly into the open end of the net and can’t find their way out. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Oct. 1, 2012 photo, a raptor is tethered to the hood of a truck, serving as a trapper’s spotter in Egypt's Western Desert. When the bird spies a falcon, it looks up, alerting the trapper to release a small bird wearing a snare, trapping the falcon if it comes in for the kill. Falconers pay up to $35,000 for a live falcon. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Oct. 1, 2012 photo, a songbird is stuck to a gluey "limestick", placed by poachers in decoy shrubs along a highway near the Mediterranean town of Rashid, Egypt. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept. 18, 2012 photo, a Egyptian men kill , clean and prepare to cook songbirds that they shot at a hunting camp in Egypt's Western Desert. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept. 27, 2012 photo, two warblers hang by their wings, feet ,and tails from gluey "limesticks," placed by poachers in decoy shrubs along a highway near the Mediterranean town of Rashid, Egypt. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept 22, 2012 photo at the market in El Daba, Egypt, dead songbirds are counted by merchants and poachers arriving to sell their catch for the day. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept 2, 2012 photo at the market in El Daba, Egypt, dead golden orioles are bagged for sale by bird merchants. Across the Mediterranean, hundreds of millions of migratory birds are killed annually during the treacherous passage for food, profit, and cruel amusement. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this March 9, 2012 photo, Albanian hunters gather on the beach near their hunting position as they wait for migrating ducks from North Africa crossing the Mediterranean Sea to the coast near Velipoje, Albania. Across the Mediterranean, hundreds of millions of migratory birds are killed annually during the treacherous passage for food, profit, and cruel amusement. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this March 9, 2012 photo, dead ducks, which were shot and killed by Albanian hunters as they arrived on the coast after migrating from North Africa, are heaped on the beach along the Mediterranean Sea near Velipoje, Albania. Across the Mediterranean, hundreds of millions of migratory birds are killed annually during the treacherous passage for food, profit, and cruel amusement. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this March 3, 2012 photo, an Albanian hunter wades through Lake Skhoder carrying a raptor he shot for amusement while hunting for migratory ducks. Across the Mediterranean, hundreds of millions of migratory birds are killed annually during the treacherous passage for food, profit, and cruel amusement. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Oct. 3, 2012 photo, a kestrel falcon with its eyelids sown shut rides in the front cab of a falcon hunter in Egypt's Western Desert. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept. 19, 2012 photo, a dead golden oriole is staked to the ground to be used as a decoy by songbird hunters in Egypt's Al Maghrah oasis. After crossing the Mediterranean on their way south, songbirds must brave more than a thousand miles of Saharan desert only to be heavily hunted in this resting point in the desert. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept. 25, 2012 photo, turtle dove feathers are piled at the feet of a young Egyptian man as he plucks the feathers of birds killed by hunters at a small property used by hunting club members in Alexandria, Egypt. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept. 22, 2012 photo, an Egyptian boy carries an air rifle and a songbird he shot and killed along the Mediterranean coast near Mersa Matruh, Egypt. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept. 20, 2012 photo, an Egyptian hunter holds two dead golden orioles in his hand and raises a shotgun, as he and his brother shoot migratory songbirds in Egypt's Al Maghrah oasis. After crossing the Mediterranean on their way south, golden orioles must brave more than a thousand miles of Saharan desert only to be heavily hunted in this resting point in the desert. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Oct. 22, 2012 photo, an Italian forest ranger hides waiting to ambush bird poachers while patrolling in the forest of Italy's Brescia region. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept 23, 2012 photo, a plate of cooked and rice-stuffed tiny migratory birds is served at a home in El Daba, Egypt. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this May 4, 2012 photo, a male black cap songbird is trapped in a net stretched across an orchard near Ayia Napa, Cyprus by bird poachers. Across the Mediterranean, hundreds of millions of migratory birds are killed annually during the treacherous passage for food, profit, and cruel amusement. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept 30, 2012 photo, an Egyptian man collects European quail as they arrive after migrating across the Mediterranean Sea from Europe and are caught in his net stretched along the beach near Baltim, Egypt. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this April 30, 2012 photo, anti-songbird poaching activists sneak into a orchard where they found, and removed, dozens of freshly placed "limesticks", used to capture songbirds, in a citrus orchard in Ayia Napa, Cyprus. Across the Mediterranean, hundreds of millions of migratory birds are killed annually during the treacherous passage for food, profit, and cruel amusement. (AP Photo/AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this Sept. 19, 2012 photo, the head of a golden oriole songbird lies in the sand near a hunting camp in Egypt's Western Desert after hunters cleaned and cooked the birds they killed that day. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)
The Last Song: Mediteranean Bird Slaughter
In this May 1, 2012 photo, Cypriot police and members of an anti-songbird poaching squad question an elderly man who had "limesticks" and trapped birds in his orchard in Ayia Napa, Cyprus. Across the Mediterranean, hundreds of millions of migratory birds are killed annually during the treacherous passage for food, profit, and cruel amusement. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)