Falconry

Many readers will probably know something of the ins and outs of the law. It is, however, extremely confusing and difficult to understand; hopefully this chapter will clarify it a little.

Our own indigenous birds, including birds of prey, are all protected by the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act. It is illegal to:

b) take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird, while that nest is in use or being built;

a) disturb any wild bird (of prey) included in Schedule 1 while it is building a nest or is in, on or near a nest containing eggs or young;

Although licences have been granted to take birds of prey from the wild in Britain for falconry since 1967, 1988 was the last year that such licences were granted.

Because Britain is an EEC country, CITES is implemented here through EEC regulations. Some Appendix 2/3 species are treated as Appendix 1 (known as C1) and this applies to all birds of prey. Although many foreign species of raptors are not protected in their own countries, they come under British law when anyone wants to import them to, or export them from, Britain. A CITES permit has to be obtained before any bird of prey can be brought into or taken out of Britain. Basically what all this means is that all birds of prey, regardless of their official status in the country they come from, are regarded as Appendix 1 by our government and as such come under the laws governing birds on that list. As the lists and schedules are pretty long I am not going to list them here. You will find them in the various acts available from Her Majesty’s Stationery Shops.

All captive birds of prey have to be registered with the Dept of the Environment (DoE); the only exceptions are owls and Vultures.

Although these species do not have to be registered they are still protected by various laws. Captive Secretary Birds do not have to be ringed and registered at the moment, but are not officially exempt.

A registered bird has a ring and registration document, both of which are issued by the DoE. Re-registration happens at the moment every three years. The last re-registration was September 1980, the next will be September 1993.

Just because a bird is registered and has its ring and registration document, does not mean that bird is necessarily a legal bird. If at a later date information comes to light that points to a registered bird not being a legal bird, that bird will be subject to the laws governing any illegally taken bird. Therefore, if a prospective owner is not sure of the origins of a bird, the onus is on him or her to find out, and if there is doubt, he or she should not accept the bird.

There are at present two kinds of rings issued by the DoE. Neither is particularly good, but until there is something better, we are stuck with these. The DoE is still looking at alternative rings. These will most likely be more expensive than the existing ones and the cost will fall to us, the owners and keepers of the birds. All government rings are issued by the DoE and are individually numbered. One ring is a plastic cable-tie which is placed on a bird’s leg when it is full grown. Each ring’s number is prefixed with the letters UK. All registered birds of prey bred before 1983 should have these cable-ties, unless the keeper has licence to hold a bird unringed. The other is a metal closed ring (a seamless metal band), bearing its own numbers and a letter to indicate the ring size, and the letters DoE. This ring is placed on a bird’s leg when it is approximately ten to fourteen days old. As the leg grows, the ring becomes too small to go over the growing foot and remains on the leg. There are certain sized rings for each species of bird that are legally acceptable.

These rings must be readable at all times. Over the years (months if you are unlucky) both the cable-tie ring and the closed ring may become illegible. If this happens, the bird automatically becomes an unregistered bird until that ring is replaced. As it is wise management practice to catch up all aviary birds at least once a year for a check up, worming and the like, rings can be checked then. New rings will have to be applied for to replace worn or lost ones.

Some birds such as some of the large eagles may have no ring, usually because large birds of prey can remove the cable-tie ring with great ease. In this case the bird will have a UR (Un Rung) number on its registration document. Any movement or sale of these birds to new owners/keepers may well be restricted. The information will be on the registration document.

Since 1983 all captive-bred registerable young raptors bred in Britain should have been close ringed with the DoE ring. There are always exceptions. A ring may come off unnoticed during the young bird’s growing period in an aviary. This will have to be replaced by a cable-tie, as soon as possible. Very occasionally adult bird behaviour means that their young cannot be ringed with safety, so these young may have to be cable-tied as soon as possible. Early on there were no close rings for the large eagles so all the captive-bred ones had to have cable-ties, this problem has now been solved.

Occasionally an injury to a leg may mean that the ring has to be removed. It will have to be replaced with a cable-tie after the leg has recovered. A few birds damage themselves while trying to remove a ring. We have about three birds here that consistently injure their legs trying to do this and we have been granted licence to keep these birds unrung. They have a UR number on their registration document. All the birds that have objected to rings, in my experience, have objected only to cable-ties. We have had no bird here that has objected to the closed rings.

Any bird that should be close ringed and is not, for whatever reason, needs a special licence granted by the DoE to be able to be sold. Some people refuse to use the closed rings, preferring to cable-tie young when they leave the nest. This is very unwise, the cable-ties are not as good as the closed rings and for the bird’s sake, the closed rings are safer. The DoE quite rightly does not like people refusing to assist with the legal requirements, and may well refuse to issue a sale licence.

Registerable birds of prey, ie all except the owls, Vultures and Secretary Birds, divide into two groups for ringing at the moment—the sensitives and the non-sensitives. At the time of writing the sensitives are: Golden Eagle, Goshawk, Peregrine, Merlin, Gyr Falcon, and any hybrid where one parent is a sensitive.

When any of the six sensitives are to be ringed, either with closed rings for young birds or replacement cable-ties, the keeper applies to the DoE. The correct number of rings are sent to a DoE inspector who brings out the rings and forms, and witnesses the ringing. The forms are then signed by the keeper and the inspector and returned, by the keeper, to the DoE with the appropriate fee. New registration and replacement documents are sent out for the ringed bird or birds once the fee has been accepted and the information placed in the DoE computer.

When any of these need ringing for whatever reason, the keeper applies to the DoE for the rings and these are sent direct to the keeper, along with a form. The onus is then on the keeper to ring the birds and fill in and return the form with the correct fee to the DoE. Registration documents are then sent back in the normal way.

The bird registration part of the Wildlife and Countryside Act has been a great effort in the field of job creation. The government bird registration department now employs numerous people to cope with all the paperwork. There are also two full-time inspectors—the chief wildlife inspector and his assistant. Along with the two full-time inspectors are a number of voluntary inspectors to assist in the ringing of young sensitive species during the breeding season, and to check that the regulations are generally being obeyed by the keepers of birds of prey. An official DoE inspector carries an identity card with his or her photograph. The card is signed for the Secretary of State and dated with an expiry date.

Inspectors sent out by the DoE carry out inspections, both announced and unannounced. The Wildlife and Countryside Act says the following about inspectors in Section 7 (6):

Any person authorised in writing by the Secretary of State may, at any reasonable time and (if required to do so) upon producing evidence that he is authorised, enter and inspect any premises where a registered person keeps any wild birds for the purpose of ascertaining whether an offence under this section is being, or has been, committed on those premises.

The meaning of that statement is fairly clear. All birds of prey, whether captive bred or not, are considered to be ‘wild birds’. As yet they are not thought of as domestic birds. The section quoted is one of the parts of the act dealing with the registration of schedule 4 birds which includes birds of prey.

Any person who intentionally obstructs a person acting in the exercise of the power conferred by subsection (6) shall be guilty of an offence.

So, although an inspector cannot force his or her way onto your premises to inspect the bird or birds, if you intentionally refuse the inspector entry, you are breaking the law and are guilty of an offence. The inspector will then be well within his or her rights to return with the police and a search warrant should the police deem it necessary.

The DoE inspectorate have now had years to learn about not only the legal requirements, but also the problems that keepers have. They are now pretty careful about when they inspect, and respect the fact that the birds require peace and quiet during the breeding season. However, if a person is suspected of an offence, birds may well have to be disturbed during the breeding season to verify that all is well, or not well, whichever the case may be.

The words ‘at any reasonable time’ are most relevant to breeders of birds. At any time during the run up to, or during the breeding season, it is not a good idea to have to go into pens to catch up birds and check on ring numbers. However, if sensitive birds are being bred, they may well be subject to unannounced inspections during the breeding season, when an inspector will want to be able to view the birds to see if they are really showing signs of breeding. This is yet another reason for building good pens where viewing is easy and does not disturb the birds to any detrimental degree. However awkward it is, the phrase ‘at any reasonable time’ does not mean ‘at the keeper’s convenience’.

When an inspector makes an appointment to come over and witness the ringing of a bird or birds, remember that they are not supposed to touch the birds in any way other than to view the ring going on or perhaps visibly check the number of a ring already in position. If you know an inspector is coming to ring birds for you, have someone else on hand to help. Particularly if the ring is a cable-tie, it is very difficult to put on the cable-tie rings one handed. It is much better, and quicker, for the bird to have two people, one holding the bird and one putting on the ring. As the inspector is not supposed to handle birds, it is unfair to ask him or her to do so.

If an inspector makes an unannounced inspection and wishes to check on rings outside the breeding season, this can be extremely inconvenient and sometimes difficult, particularly with large numbers of birds. As all birds should be caught up once a year for general health and care checks, it may be worthwhile to contact the Registration Department of the DoE and inform your case officer that you intend catching up birds to do a physical check on such and such a date and would an inspector like to check the ring numbers at the same time. If you give enough notice this may be helpful to both parties.

Anyone who finds an injured wild bird of prey is allowed to keep and look after that bird with the intention of releasing it back to the wild, unless that person has already been convicted under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. In that case, to take in an injured bird to care for it would be to commit another offence against the same Act. It would also be illegal to accept an injured bird if that person had a court order against him stating anything to the contrary. Any injured bird of prey except the British owls must be registered immediately by the person who wishes to care for the bird. As the fee for registration varies, it is best to contact the DoE to see what it is for whichever species has been found.

If the bird cannot be released back to the wild, any person may keep that bird, unless the law disallows this for whatever reason, and the bird will then be treated as any other registerable bird, subject to the normal fees. The DoE may ask for a veterinary certificate to prove that the bird is non-releasable. There are exceptions to this regulation. Veterinary surgeons, and licensed rehabilitation keepers (LRKs) are able to accept injured wild birds of prey and care for them for six weeks without registering them. Most releasable birds will have been released during that period. If a bird has to stay with the LRK for longer than six weeks it must be registered in the normal way, as have permanently disabled birds, but the fee is waived to LRKs. Once a bird is released then the DoE is informed and the registration documents returned to them.

LRKs have to keep DoE forms and paperwork about each bird brought in to them. They are inspected to gain their initial licence and pay a three yearly LRK fee. LRKs are subject to inspections by a DoE inspector as are other keepers. The DoE asks that injured wild birds of any of these five sensitive species be reported immediately: Golden Eagle, Goshawk, Peregrine, Merlin, and Gyr Falcon.

LRKs have no special authority other than to have fees waived for permanently disabled birds and a six-week holding period for injured wild birds before registration. It is illegal for LRKs, or anyone else for that matter, to display injured wild birds of prey to the public for financial gain, or to sell them.

Still, I am afraid that unannounced and announced inspections are all part of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, so there is little point in getting upset and bucking the system. All that does is get falconers and bird of prey keepers a bad name and does no one any good in the long run. If both sides try to make the whole job pleasant and efficient, the effect on the birds should be minimal. If you consider that an inspector is being unreasonable immediately contact your case officer at the DoE who may ask you to explain the circumstances to the chief wildlife inspector. Try to remain calm at all times.

Sadly the government system for running the civil service in general is now very world-wide outdated. It seems that as soon as someone in any governmental department gets to know and understand the system, they promptly get moved to a different job and department. Any business that was run in this way would be bankrupt very quickly. But this is the way the system works at the moment and so it has to be accepted.

I don’t think anyone had any idea of what was being taken on and how many birds of prey were captive in Britain when the legislation was proposed. The initial staff put in to start the ball rolling was far too small and they must have been horrified by the prospect of trying to deal with about 10,000 birds of prey that had to be registered, and 2,000 owners who generally were not particularly keen on the idea in the first place! Mistakes have been made on both sides, sometimes justified and sometimes not. However, what must be remembered is that the DoE did not make the Wildlife and Countryside Act, they only administer it. So help them to do this as well as possible, for all our sakes.

The Act is, in my opinion, an unwieldy law and I don’t think it has really made much difference to the safety of the wild populations of raptors in Britain. It has certainly made the sport of falconry very much more complicated. I, and I think a number of other falconers, believe that it would have been far better to license the falconers rather than register the birds, in much the same way as the United States regulations work. In this way, at least there would have been some sort of proficiency test before interested people were allowed to go out and buy a bird of prey, rather than the system that we have now which does nothing to protect birds that are in captivity and yet called wild, and little to protect those in the wild.

No injured wild bird of prey can be legally sold, nor can any legally taken wild bird of prey. Because all birds of prey (including owls) come under Annex C1 of the EEC CITES regulations (1982) for importing into this country, it is almost impossible to import a wild-taken bird of prey for trade. Therefore imported wild-taken birds of prey cannot be sold, except under exceptional circumstances and with a special licence.

An imported captive-bred bird might be granted a special sale licence. This would be an individual licence granted only for a particular bird and a particular person; it will have to be re-applied for should the bird be resold. It is preferred that captive birds are imported into this country for better reasons than just trade.

A number of general exemption sale and display licences granted by the DoE cover United Kingdom captive-bred birds of prey. The regulations authorise ‘the display to the public for commercial purposes and the sale, keeping for sale, offering for sale and transporting for sale’.

Captive-bred Barn Owls may be sold if they are close ringed in accordance with the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and there is documentary evidence of captive breeding. Exemption No EC CITES GEX/33. The rings must have been issued by the British Bird Council (BBC), or the International Ornithological Association (IOA).

The above 4 species, captive bred, may be sold without a ring, but the bird’s parents must have been lawfully in captivity when the eggs were laid. Documentary evidence of captive breeding must accompany the sale. Exemption No EEC CITES GEX/33.

The above 5 species, captive bred cannot be sold unless a special individual sale licence is granted for individual birds.

All other owls captive bred in the United Kingdom may be sold if ‘they are marked by means of a numbered ring or tattoo or other distinguishing mark which uniquely establishes the ownership and origin of the specimen in question’.

What must be remembered is that these regulations are only valid until the end of 1992. They may be reissued the same at that time, they may be reissued completely or partly changed, they may even be revoked and new ones issued at any time. So anyone wishing to sell or display owls should obtain these or other regulations from the DoE before proceeding further.

All birds that were not bred in captivity, ie imported, wild taken under licence in the United Kingdom (or injured wild birds of prey), may not be sold under any circumstances unless a special sale licence is obtained for each individual bird. That licence will only apply to one sale, any further resale of a bird must be accompanied by a new special sale licence for each individual bird each time the bird is sold.

The general sale and display regulations divide in two groups. Those birds bred before 1983 and those bred after 1983. (1983 is when the ringing and registration part of the Wildlife and Countryside Act came into force.)

All the above 19 species may be sold if the bird is close ringed, registered correctly with the DoE and the parents were lawfully in captivity when the egg was laid. Documentary evidence of captive breeding must accompany the sale.

The above 4 species, if captive bred, can be sold if the bird has been close ringed; the ring must have its own legible identity number. The bird must be correctly registered with the DoE, and the parents must have been lawfully in captivity when the egg was laid. Documentary evidence of captive breeding must accompany the sale.

It appears that all other diurnal birds of prey captive bred before 1983 can be sold without a close ring, but the birds must have been captive bred and the parents must have been lawfully in captivity when the egg was laid. Documentary evidence must accompany the sale and the bird must be correctly registered with the DoE and ringed.

All pure bred diurnal birds of prey captive bred after 1983 may be sold if they are ringed with a DoE close ring, or a cable-tie if the species is one of the following, according to the schedule attached to GEX/39:

The birds must be correctly ringed with the specified ring and registered, the parents must have been lawfully in captivity when the eggs were laid and documentary evidence of captive breeding must accompany the sale.

All pure bred diurnal birds of prey captive bred after 1983 but not ringed correctly have to have an individual sale licence issued for each bird, which will only cover the one sale for which that licence was granted. All first generation hybrids whose parents are listed on the Annex to GEX/39 are covered for sale and display provided they are properly close ringed and registered. All other hybrid birds require individual sale and display exemptions.

Anyone wishing to sell or display any diurnal raptors should obtain these or other relevant regulations from the DoE before proceeding further.

There are various general exemption sale licences and information sheets on the Wildlife and Countryside Act. These are all available from the DoE. I have tried to précis the law somewhat, but it is essential that whatever you wish to do with a bird that may be affected by the law, you should find out what is allowable within the law before going ahead.

It is no longer possible to import a wild-taken bird of prey with falconry the main purpose for importing. Wild-taken birds of prey can only be imported under licence if there is a very good conservation reason for doing so. Breeding projects are acceptable, if they are well run and have good reasons for existing. Extensive proof of breeding projects, experience, and aviary space for birds to be imported should accompany any application. Take my advice, write the application out properly on rough paper before filling in any forms, then type the actual form. Badly filled in forms in illegible writing do not endear anyone to the unfortunate person having to struggle with the application.

Captive-bred birds can be imported under licence but proof of the reliability of the captive breeding must be supplied. The record of some countries is somewhat dubious and importing from them may be very difficult. Birds from countries that have not signed the CITES convention are also very difficult to obtain import papers for.

To import any bird of prey, firstly there has to be a CITES import permit issued by the DoE, allowing the bird to be imported into Great Britain. Then there has to be an export permit from the country of origin. This may not be a CITES permit as some countries have only certain species of birds of prey on Appendix 1. Birds on other schedules may not necessarily require a CITES permit to export from foreign countries, although some sort of government document is necessary for import into Britain.

Once the import and export permits have been organised and are both in date, a permit must be issued by the Ministry of Agriculture. To do this, quarantine quarters have to be found or built and then passed. The Min of Ag issue an application form to fill in with the correct information. This is sent to the Min of Ag headquarters in London who then tell the local office to inspect the quarantine quarters. If these pass, the local office informs head office and a licence is issued. Part of this licence must then be sent to the exporter of the bird and the veterinary certificate on the form must be filled in by the exporting country’s government veterinary department. This completed form must accompany the incoming bird.

Once a bird arrives in the United Kingdom Customs will charge VAT on the British market value of the import, regardless of the fact that this bird may have been a gift. They know the rough values and there is little point in trying to get away with a cheaper costing as it will only hold up the process and that will do the bird no good. Handling charges on the import will be charged by the airline if one is used. There are specified ports through which birds may arrive. Should an unspecified port be preferred, special written permission will have to be gained from the DoE.

If you are considering importing a bird of a species that is already being captive bred in the United Kingdom, do some serious costings first. By the time you add the possible initial cost of a bird, the freight costs, VAT and handling charges, vet bills and either quarantine costs or the cost of building your own quarters, it will probably work out cheaper to buy a captive-bred bird from the United Kingdom than to import one from abroad.

Exporting is slightly easier. The import permit from the country the bird is going to will be the responsibility of the person receiving export, however the exporter should always make sure it is in existence before sending any bird. The exporter of a bird from this country will have to apply for a CITES export permit. Some countries require a special veterinary certificate issued by them, sent over to this country and stamped by a government local veterinary inspector (LVI). For others, just a local veterinary surgeon’s certificate, issued by him or her, will suffice. Travelling boxes will have to conform with International Air Travel Association (IATA) rules for containers with which to travel birds of prey.

I feel very strongly that anyone importing a bird should go out to the exporting country and make sure that all is well. In this way the bird will be shipped in the right container with the correct paperwork and will survive the trip. The only time this is unnecessary is if you know the breeder of the bird to be imported, and know that the bird will be sent over with everything in order.

Dead birds of prey may not be sold unless the seller has a licence from the DoE to sell dead birds of prey. This applies to both wild and captive birds.

Eggs may not be sold unless a special licence is granted. I am told that this would, at present, only be likely if the eggs were being sold to museums.

Regulates the import and export of animals and birds into and out of this country; we have discussed the EEC CITES regulations 1982.

If someone sells a bird and it can be proved that he had foreknowledge of a problem with that bird or with that particular line of birds being bred, he or she could be taken to court.

This covers the movement of birds and animals, among hundreds of other things. If birds are travelled in a manner not deemed to be fit or kind to the bird, the keeper of that bird can be taken to court.

Anyone injuring or killing a bird belonging to someone else can be taken to court in contravention of this Act.

Means that land other than a dwelling house may be be entered and searched. Section 19 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act does the same thing and the police would be more likely to use the latter.

Covers all cruelty to animals and birds, either direct cruelty or cruelty due to poor housing or management.

Wildlife and Countryside Act 19817 BIRDS OF PREY AND THE LAW

Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
7 BIRDS OF PREY AND THE LAW