Change in the law of legal Quarry

[morose]

Hopefully there are few shooters here that take Starlings and House Sparrows

Taken from the DEFRA website:

The house sparrow and starling are to be removed from general licences issued under section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 when the current licences expire on 28th February 2005.

Announcing the change, Nature Conservation Minister, Ben Bradshaw, said:

"House sparrows and starlings could be described as the most British of birds. Sadly, their populations have shown a significant decline in recent years and both species now appear on the 'red list' of bird species of greatest conservation concern. I consider it inappropriate for such species to remain on these licences."

The outcome of a consultation exercise, which was carried out in the summer of 2004, will result in changes to the general licences controlling so called "pest" species of birds.

The other changes will include welfare conditions covering the use of cage traps, and the addition of species which pose a threat to air safety or public health and safety or cause serious damage to crops.

Linkhere
The site has been a bit dodgy today so try the link a few times if it doesn't work.

Wonder what the additional species will be?

[Nutty_Squirrel]

Thanks for the update.
Despite the fact that starlings seem to bully the smaller birds I am pleased to say that I haven't shot one of them. I see quite a few in my area but hear they are few and far between in a lot of places so I decided they are best left alone.

[jefL]

Starlings used to gather in huge flocks in the centre of Bristol and can be heard chattering away all night, they don't seem to roost properly due to the continuous bright lighting. Odd sensation to hear birds at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning (work sometimes drags me out at the most horrible times) but I have noticed that in the last year or two the size of the flocks has reduced dramatically.

I don't suppose many were shot in the city though. I wonder if they have fallen to the pigeon control measures the council have been using to reduce that pest.

We also used to have starlings regularly nesting in the eaves at home, a slightly more rural setting, but they have not been around for a year or two now. Still see them at the neighbours bird table though, in ones and twos.

[PaulHerts]

I really don't get it.What kind of saddo shoots starlings and sparrows?

[LESS THAN FORTUITOUS KENNETH]

Plenty of starlings round me. Fly round in ruddy great black clouds. Put owt on the bird table and it quickly turns into a seething black mass!

[Mike H]

Plenty of starlings round me. Fly round in ruddy great black clouds. Put owt on the bird table and it quickly turns into a seething black mass!

Plenty on Runcorn Bridge ... BUT ... that doesn't mean a species in decline should be shot
Mike.

[Hares Ear]

I really don't get it.What kind of saddo shoots starlings and sparrows?

I do pal, or I did. When they roosted in such great numbers that their foul droppings poisoned the very woods they roosted in.
There are plantations round here that still have clearings in them where they were killed off with Starlings roosting.
But as with a lot of other species of once common bird, they are now on the decline.
Guess that makes me a saddo eh?

[HarryPotter]

Same here, some years ago 12 of them took up residence in the loft, not being able to sleep because you can hear them bouncing around the loft is a real pain, so they had to go.

[dazzpol]

Oh my farmer will be pleased, Starlings cr@p all over his milking equipment.

I read somewhere the demise of the little sparrow is down to unleaded petrol.

Dazz

[Scarecrow]

My local farmer won't be too happy either - they decimate his cherry crop.

[throdgrain]

There are certainly less sparrows and starlings around than when I was a boy.
I never shoot them now.

[Whippet.22]

WRT what species will be added, well I think it is quite likely that cormorants might be added, although with restrictions like the one on shooting certain gulls. On that note they might add the common gull to the shootable list, although i'm not a gull expert and don't know about the population numbers of the common gull, but there has been a lot in the media over the last year about seagulls and what a nuisance/pest they are. I can't really think of any other pest species that aren't already shootable, what do you lot think?

[morose]

I would imagine that, as with other species, where a legitimate pest issue occurs control will be granted under application licences.

I suspect Canada Goose will be added (although not really airgun quarry) and I wonder if Parakeet may get put on although from what I have read the jurry is still out on this one.

The general thinking is House Sparrow decline is down to a number of issues, cleaner and tidier gardens appear to have been a contributing factor along with an increase in garden pesticides. The decline has been greater in suburban gardens than in urban ones. A number of local extinctions on farms appear to have taken place as well. Recent research suggests there are 10million fewer House Sparrows today than there were 25 years ago. Research is still ongoing.

Starling decline is thought to be largely due to an increase in arable farming and correlating loss of permanent pasture and mixed farming, and increased use of farm chemicals. This combined with a lack of suitable breeding sites has seen the number of young raised each year fall dramatically. The population has dropped by 66% in the last 35 years.

Charlie

[morose]

WRT what species will be added, well I think it is quite likely that cormorants might be added, although with restrictions like the one on shooting certain gulls. On that note they might add the common gull to the shootable list, although i'm not a gull expert and don't know about the population numbers of the common gull, but there has been a lot in the media over the last year about seagulls and what a nuisance/pest they are. I can't really think of any other pest species that aren't already shootable, what do you lot think?

Unlikely that Cormorant will be added as DEFRA have just done a major U Turn (reduced) on the number of licences they were going to give out for Cormorant control this year.

As far as Gulls go I doubt any will be added on the list may as lots of sea birds are doing really badly at the moment all across the UK. This is especially significant as the UK is one of the most important countries in the world with regard to its sea bird populations.

[manxteddy]

Yes, I remember huge numbers of starlings filling the Bristol skies when I canoed in the city docks during the 1980's.Every inch of sky full of them.
Now here in the Wirral we see only tiny flocks.
House sparrows are still here on Deeside but over on the Merseyside they are not present it seems.
Graham