Birds: licence to catch them on food premises (CL03)
Get a licence to catch certain birds trapped on food premises.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This licence lets you catch wild birds that have become trapped on your premises if you’re the owner or manager of food premises.
This licence covers:
- blackbirds
- house sparrows
- robins
- starlings
- pied wagtails
- blue tits
- great tits
- dunnocks
- song thrushes
This licence can only be used at premises that are registered with Natural England.
Birds can only be caught for the purpose of preserving public health or safety.
Register to use this licence
This is a class licence. To use it, you must register with Natural England by email: wildlife@naturalengland.org.uk and provide your:
- full name
- business name
- business address
- telephone number
- email address
How to report your actions
To renew your licence you need to report your actions under this licence to Natural England by 31 January each year by stating:
- bird species involved
- number caught
- number released
- method used
or:
- you took no action
Report by email to wildlife@naturalengland.org.uk.
Updates to this page
Last updated 1 January 2024 + show all updates
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There is an update to this licence for 1 January 2024.
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Annual licence updates, valid from 1 January 2023.
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Annual licence update, valid from 1 January 2022.
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Annual licence update.
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Replaced licence with new version issued 1 January 2020
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Replaced licence with new version issued 1 January 2019
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Replaced licence with new version issued 1 January 2018
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Annual licence update 2017.
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Replaced licence with new version issued on 1 January 2016.
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terms and conditions updated for clarity
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First published.