Killing birds, or destroying nests or eggs, for health and safety or to prevent spread disease
What to do if you believe wild birds could be a risk to health, safety or could spread disease.
Birds affecting your home
link to gulls
link to pigeons?
Birds affecting a workplace or ?
You must try non-lethal methods to resolve the problem before you consider carrying out actions under a general or specific licence.
Alternatives to harming wild birds.
Check the general licences
There are two general licences allowing certain people to kill or take certain wild birds to prevent serious crop damage, protect public health and safety, or prevent the spread of disease.
You do not need to apply for a general licence.
You must read it fully and be able to comply with all of its conditions.
General licence 001
General licence 001: Licence for certain people to kill or take certain wild birds, or take or destroy their nests or eggs, for the purposes of preventing serious damage or spread of disease to:
- livestock
- foodstuffs for livestock
- crops
- vegetables
- fruit
General licence 002
General licence 002: Licence to kill or take feral pigeons, or take or destroy their nests, for the purpose of preserving public health, public safety and preventing the spread of disease.
Apply for a licence
If you have tried non-lethal methods, and you cannot comply with all the conditions of a general licence, you must apply to us for a specific bird licence.
Information you must provide
- applicant name, address, and contact details
- names and contact details of people who will carry out the activity, if different from the applicant
- description of why you need the licence (500 words maximum). If your application is to control gulls, we will ask you instead to confirm the exact nature of the problem.
- the months when the problem occurs
- address where the problem occurs, including OS reference
- species of bird you want to kill
- number of each species you want to kill
- method you want to use - if you want to use baits or mist netting, we need evidence of your competence
- date(s) you want to carry out the activity
- which preventative measures you used to tackle the problem, when, and how effective they were
- how you will manage the problem in future
- date you want the licence to start
Providing evidence of the problem
You must upload photo or video evidence that the problems exist.
You can upload the following file types:
- x
- x
- x
- x
Each file can be up to 50MB. If your files are large, use a file resizer like xxx.
How long it takes for us to process an application
We will respond to you within 40 days of receiving a complete application.
How much it costs
We do not charge for this licence application.