The Laws That Affect Pigeons, Seagulls And You

In the UK, it is illegal to harm or kill any wild birds, such as pigeons and seagulls as per the DEFRA ( Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. In the first instance, any person with a bird pest issue in the UK must first try non-lethal methods of bird control such as bird spikes before considering other methods such as lethal control. This overview covers the legal issues surrounding the lawful removal of pigeons and seagulls from your property.

It is always the property owner’s responsibility to ensure any works carried out are legal, whether they are doing it themselves or instructing a pest control company. The contractor is not legally liable if providing services on behalf of a third party. It is always the responsibility of the owner of the property upon whose site or building those controls are provided. To reiterate, non-lethal methods of removal must be tried first before looking to employ lethal control. If pest birds are causing problems that directly affect public health and safety or cause damage and humane methods have been tried and failed, there are General Licenses under which lethal control is allowed. Do take a look through our humane Defender Bird Spike products before considering other methods.

Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

The lethal control (killing) of pigeons, seagulls and other wild birds in the UK is legislated by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), courtesy of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (Chapter 69).

As summarised by the RSPB:

This act offers protection to wild birds, their eggs and nests in England, Scotland and Wales. Note that certain parts of the Act apply differently to Scotland....Generally, subject to certain exceptions, it makes it illegal to do any of the following:

• Intentionally kill, injure or take any wild bird.
• Intentionally take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built.
• Intentionally take or destroy the egg of any wild bird.
• Possess wild birds (dead or alive) and their eggs
• Use traps, poison or similar items to kill, injure or take wild birds.

Intentionally or recklessly disturb any wild bird listed on Schedule 1 while it is nest building, or at a nest containing eggs or young, or disturb the dependent young of such a bird.

Non-lethal Control

Not all pest birds are equal and different laws apply to different species. It is imperative to establish which law and licence is needed before any bird control is undertaken. The feral pigeon is dealt with differently to a wood pigeon and several species of gull in the UK are protected due to their poor conservation status. In all cases, every effort must be made to control the bird issue using non-lethal methods such as bird spikes. Bird spikes are a humane bird deterrent recognised by Picas and the RSPCA and our Defender range has over 20 different spikes suited to all possible problem roosting and nesting areas. They act as both a visual and physical deterrent, gently encouraging birds to move to a more appropriate perch.

General Licences to kill wild birds

If you can’t resolve your pigeon issue using non-lethal methods, you may consider culling under a General Licence. These are free and only allowed if the type of work has a low risk for the conservation and welfare of the birds and the conditions written on the licence are followed accurately.

The current General Licencing that can be used for wild birds, including the feral and wood pigeon, is valid until the 31st of December 2025. It includes the species of feral and wood pigeons however all gulls were removed due to their high conservation risk.

General Licence 41 (GL41)

The GL41 can be used by an authorised person if the birds are causing public health and safety issues, such as slips and falls, spreading disease and causing problems by nesting. This licence does not have a formal application process, but the conditions of GL41 must be complied with. Remember, all forms of non-lethal bird control like bird spikes must have been considered or tried before using this licence.

General Licence 42 (GL42)

The GL42 focuses more on agricultural settings, particularly livestock feed, the spread of diseases and fruit, vegetables and crops. Again this licence must only be used as a last resort.

Evidence needed to apply for a General Licence

To undertake a culling operation for pigeons and to ensure it is within the scope of the law, the authorised person must be able to demonstrate the following:

1) The pigeon-related problems being experienced have resulted in, or are likely to result in, a risk to public health or safety.

2) All non-lethal methods of control have been tried and found to fail. Culling cannot be used as a method of control simply because pigeons are causing damage to a property through fouling. Culling for this purpose would always be illegal.

Access to these licences can be obtained online at General Licences for wildlife management.

Natural England - A09 Wild Birds: Licence to kill or take for conservation or public health and safety

Natural England has changed the licence process for lethal control of herring gulls and lesser black-backed gulls due to their poor conservation status. There numbers are shown to be declining and several UK gull species are on the UK red conservation list. Natural England will license gull control through individual specific licences A09, it includes removing nests, eggs and chicks. Applications are made directly to them with evidence to prove that the actions being undertaken will cause no damage to the gull populations and are absolutely necessary.

Natural England will consider the strength of need in each licence application individually but generally protecting human life and health will be the overriding priority. The stringent conditions and evidence-based application are complicated and it is recommended to seek advice and help from a qualified professional bird control company. If Natural England finds the application does meet all the criteria it sets, it will reject the application. No lethal control can begin until the licence has been granted. It can take up to 2 weeks to receive a reply after the application has been submitted.

Natural England continues to promote the use of non-lethal methods such as seagull spikes as a first approach through integrated management strategies that reduce opportunities for gulls to nest and scavenge in problem areas within the built environment. They will only consider an application for lethal control, nest, egg or chick removal if there is evidence non-lethal methods have been tried and have failed or are not appropriate.

Animal Welfare Act 2006

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 deals with issues relating to cruelty and unnecessary suffering, deliberate or unintended, to animals and birds. If the property owner was challenged and faced prosecution on the grounds of cruelty and unnecessary suffering, this law would most probably be applied and rather than the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

This act is summarised by gov.uk:

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 is the principal law relating to animal welfare, protecting all vertebrate animals. Under the Act, owners and keepers have a duty of care to their animals and must make sure they meet their needs:

• for a suitable environment and place to live
• for a suitable diet
• to exhibit normal behaviour patterns
• to be housed with, or apart from, other animals (if applicable)
• to be protected from pain, injury, suffering and disease

The Act prohibits animal cruelty which includes:

• causing unnecessary suffering to an animal
• mutilation
• poisoning an animal

Anyone who does not comply with the Act may:

be banned from owning animals

face an unlimited fine

be sent to prison for up to 5 years

Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014

There is currently no law specifically available to stop a person feeding wild birds. Where the persistent feeding of wild birds such as pigeons and seagulls is deemed unreasonable and detrimental to the local community’s quality of life (for example, a build-up of food attracting rodents), then local authorities and police forces are sometimes turning to the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to issue Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO) or Community Protection Orders (CPO).