Birds and Eggs
| Specially protected species | Birds which may be hunted | Problem species |
In general it is an offence to:
- kill or injure any wild bird;
- capture or keep [alive or dead] any wild bird;
- destroy or take the egg of any wild bird;
- sell or advertise for sale any wild bird or its eggs;
- destroy, damage, interfere with, take or obstruct the use of the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built.
There are tighter restrictions for specially protected species. For instance, you may not normally disturb them at their nest and require a licence to photograph them there.
Possessing a wild bird or egg is against the law unless you can prove that it came to you by lawful means. If you are in this position, you need to retain convincing evidence of the circumstances. However, you may keep injured birds in order to nurse them, provided that they are released again, and mercy killing is permitted where a seriously injured bird has no reasonable chance of recovery. It is also not a crime to kill or injure a bird by accident unless your actions were reckless.
There are exceptions for some problem
species and species that are traditional quarry
species.
There is a scheme to permit some birds to be kept in captivity
provided that they are properly ringed and registered (but you must
check the detailed rules on birds kept or bred in captivity before any
such bird is held or released). This scheme is managed by DEFRA. A general licence permits the removal of eggs from
nest-boxes when cleaning them out, from 1st August to 31 January, but
keeping any remaining eggs is still an offence.
Other exceptions apply where action is necessary to protect human
health and safety but there are special procedures to follow in these
cases - contact the Scottish
Executive for help.