Mallorca country folks love their hunting.

Rabbits are hunted by either shotgun or dogs, whilst game (mostly of the bird variety) are either hunted by shotgun, caught in a trap or tricked by the use of bait birds.

The fowl pictured here, a Mediterranean perdiu roja (Alectoris rufa), closely related to the red-legged partridge, is often kept as such a decoy. Male partridges serve as baits because their singing abilities are better than those of the females. The male’s song is a loud, rhythmic chuffing call of the chuck-chukka-chuff kind. The decoy bird is kept in a small basket cage when taken to the hunting area. His singing attracts the females who then get caught as their curiosity gets them killed.

The hunting season for these partridges in the Balearic Isles is normally from mid-October to mid-March.

Today, by the way, we celebrate World Environment Day. 

The photo was taken in Manacor, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: June 2nd, 2008. The time was 13:12:42.