Statutory guidance

Mallard ducks: licence to take eggs and rear and release chicks (GL13)

Get a general licence to take mallard duck eggs for incubation and rearing in captivity as long as you release them later in the year.

Applies to England

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This general licence lets you take mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) eggs for incubation, rearing in captivity and releasing later in the same year.

This licence only applies if you are:

the land owner, occupier or anyone authorised by the owner or occupier
authorised in writing by the local authority
authorised in writing by any England, Scotland or Wales conservation body, a district board for fisheries or local fisheries committee
authorised in writing by the Environment Agency, a water undertaker or a sewerage undertaker

You do not need to apply for this general licence but you must meet its conditions and follow its instructions. To meet the conditions you must:

only take eggs by hand
not take eggs after 31 March
release any bird hatched from the egg into the wild no later than 31 July, unless it is disabled or has died
destroy any unhatched eggs by 31 July
not sell the eggs or any birds hatched from them

Published 31 December 2013
Last updated 1 January 2024 + show all updates