Defra Licence:

[delta1946]

Never been asked for a license, i have worked on airports, landfill sites, killed many birds with my falcons and hawks. mainly Gull's crows, pigeon,
craggrat

can you kill sea gulls?

[Luke Skywalker]

Does protection of crops include protection of personal crops?

[termin8R]

There are four different licences under which we might operate... the quarry species are not necessarily the same on each one.

Doug

:: Licence to kill or take certain birds to prevent serious damage or disease WML Gen-L05 PDF
:: Licence to kill or take certain birds to preserve air safety WML Gen-L06 PDF
:: Licence to kill or take certain birds to preserve public health or public safety WML Gen-L07 PDF
:: Licence to kill or take certain birds to conserve wild birds WML Gen-L08 PDF

[banjodag]

about time cormorants were added to the list. Grand union canal from Harefield to Tring emptied of the smaller fish by these vile marauders.

[Alegazmoz]

can you kill sea gulls?

There are four different licences under which we might operate... the quarry species are not necessarily the same on each one.

Doug

:: Licence to kill or take certain birds to prevent serious damage or disease WML Gen-L05 PDF
:: Licence to kill or take certain birds to preserve air safety WML Gen-L06 PDF
:: Licence to kill or take certain birds to preserve public health or public safety WML Gen-L07 PDF
:: Licence to kill or take certain birds to conserve wild birds WML Gen-L08 PDF

Gull, Great Black-backed, Larus marinus
Gull, Lesser Black-backed, Larus fuscus
Gull, Herring, Larus argentatus

Subject to the provisions of the caveats listed above.

[Frankie1517]

There are four different licences under which we might operate... the quarry species are not necessarily the same on each one.

Doug

:: Licence to kill or take certain birds to prevent serious damage or disease WML Gen-L05 PDF
:: Licence to kill or take certain birds to preserve air safety WML Gen-L06 PDF
:: Licence to kill or take certain birds to preserve public health or public safety WML Gen-L07 PDF
:: Licence to kill or take certain birds to conserve wild birds WML Gen-L08 PDF

Isn't this just the rules that those taking birds for the 4 reasons about must adhear to. Hunting for sport or food doesn't really fall into any of thse categories?

[willy]

Still on the welsh office list.

[BigAl]

Seems they have moved the licences again. The list of General Licences can now be found here.

Alan

[kdubya]

about time cormorants were added to the list. Grand union canal from Harefield to Tring emptied of the smaller fish by these vile marauders.

application can be made to kill cormorant,and specific numbers are allowed, local res, is shot every so often

cheers KW

[ftwizard]

Isn't this just the rules that those taking birds for the 4 reasons about must adhear to. Hunting for sport or food doesn't really fall into any of thse categories?

You can't shoot wild birds for food or sport, only for the reasons stated on the licence, game birds excepted of course, but they need a specific licence I believe.

[Rodd]

Ftwizard,

Game licences are no longer required, but can still only be shot in their relevant seasons and not on Sundays or Christmas Day or without landowners specific permission where you have shooting permissions.

Rod

[Simply Simon]

Game birds are considered as a crop to be harvested at certain times of the year. All birds and animals are protected; some are then exempted under certain conditions (general license) as detailed above, and thus you cannot shoot quarry solely for food or in your confines of your backgarden. Others are exempted at certain times of the year during their specific 'open seasons'.

[SNIPER1]

Thanks for this invaluable link, first I did not realise it ran out I did not realise the authority on this license had changed + would have had difficulty finding it as there is no link on defras website,

Thanks again,

SNIPER1

[Geoffc]

Just out of interest, I'm a member of Scottish Association of Country Sports.

As I take Woodpigeon for the pot then I thought I would get legal clarification.
I do kill them to prevent crop damage but, as we are a hunter-gatherer species then I did ask, what is the legal position for 'hunting' Pigeons.
In the SACS magazine they had printed an article about a chap being prosecuted by the RSPCA for allowing his son to shoot a pigeon in his own garden. SACS said this was not illegal so, again I wanted clarification.
I have cut and pasted his reply here.

Hi Geoff - thanks for the email.
I’m a bit pushed for time, so I will be brief - please excuse!
The public general licenses allow authorised persons to kill or take the species listed only for the reasons specified in the licenses - this is carefully worded to comply with EU law. The two we use most commonly as shooters are for the protection of crops and the protection of ground nesting birds.
It has been accepted that these species can be killed for these purposes at any time or in any place - it is not restricted to the protection of a specific bird nest or a specific field or crop - in other words it is fine in the legal sense to kill them at any time in any place, on the basis that they would be damaging crops or nests at some point in their lives.
The point is that although these are the only legal reasons for killing them, there is no restriction on what you do with them once you have killed them, so it’s perfectly ok to take them home and eat them (although I wouldn’t recommend it with crows!) or dispose of them in any way you see fit, including selling them to a game dealer if you have enough to make that worthwhile.
In practice, it is entirely academic until some member of the public or RSPB clown tries it on as in the case you mention, and to be safe, if anyone asks you why you shot a bird, you simply say for the protection of……. and that’s the end of it.

That'll do for me

[Airholic]

Thanks Geoff for the good post.

.....in other words it is fine in the legal sense to kill them at any time in any place, on the basis that they would be damaging crops or nests at some point in their lives........

So you CAN shoot woodpigeon for the pot.

It would appear then that when questioned by a person of authority you answer ' I did this for the pot' = court appearance. 'I did this for the protection of crops' = no case to answer.

Sometimes we don't always say the right things at the right time and end up in the proverbial when no malice was intended.