Escaping the net: why Cyprus police are losing battle to save songbirds

He then raises his hand to allow it to soar free once more over Dhekelia, a British military base on the south-east coast of Cyprus.

"The trappers think they are smarter than us, but we're cleverer than them," said inspector Theodoulos Kousiounos, 59.

Mr Kousiounos is a veteran base police officer who led the 12-man "Operation Freedom" against rampant illegal bird trapping, resulting in two arrests and the release of 40 trapped birds.

Mr Kousiounos's men have liberated almost 1,000 trapped birds this year alone in similar operations, confiscating nets and other paraphernalia, as well as making dozens of arrests.

However, he fears his unit is too thin on the ground to eradicate bird trapping, estimating there are at least 100 trap sites within the 50 square miles of the base. His men, he says, can raid no more than a handful a day.

The problem outwith the base is even bigger, with Game Fund officers struggling to prevent the wholesale capture and killing of migratory birds, which are fried or pickled for the table to feed what is a multi-million pound industry.

Campaign group Birdlife Cyprus estimates 1.5 million songbirds were slaughtered on the former British colony in 2009 and fears that figure could soar above two million this year.

It wants stronger laws to target the demand side of the industry - a crackdown on restaurants selling songbirds as a delicacy.

Money drives the illegal trade. A single mist net, measuring four by ten metres, can entangle 25 birds a day, enough for a pensioner to boost their income. A professional trapper with ten nets can make up to €2,000 (1,600) a month.

Mr Kousiounos said. "Some people have built their houses and educated their children on the strength of these birds.

"Now with the recession and unemployment, people will do anything to feed their families."

Three more robins, nine blackcaps and a songthrush were rescued by his men from the same mist net, strung vertically between poles in a thicket.

They were the lucky ones, delivered to freedom before trappers could kill them with a toothpick or penknife to the neck. Many birds are dismembered when ripped from the nets. ?Top of the menu for trappers are blackcaps, a warbler sold as "ambelopoulia" in island eateries. But other migrants, including robins, are also sold under the same name.

A restaurant pays between €30-€45 for a dozen blackcaps: diners pay double that once they are served on a plate.Snaring birds with mist nets or sticks dipped in glue is outlawed by EU law and international conventions because of their indiscriminate nature. Even falcons have been found in mist nets as well as endangered species such as the Cyprus scops owl.

Dhekelia base lies on a major migratory route and its scrubby terrain is a favourite trappers' haunt. Base authorities and those of the Republic of Cyprus - which often conduct joint operations in Dhekelia - insist they are doing their best to combat the songbird trade.

Trappers argue that they are merely indulging in a "traditional" practice that dates back to at least medieval times. But eating ambelopoulia, critics of the bird slaughter say, has become a status symbol among the urban elite on the prosperous island.

Those who want to eat non-endangered birds such as songthrushes and partridges can do so legally, hunting them under licence when in season. Ambelopoulia, however, have the cachet of forbidden fruit.

"We Cypriots love the idea that we are such passionate gourmands we are even prepared to break the law and pay silly money for these delicacies," scoffed a columnist in the English language Cyprus Mail.

"We also like the idea that we are breaking a law imposed on us by ignorant and squeamish Europeans."