Wild birds: licence to kill or take for conservation or public health and safety (A09)
Apply to control wild birds, including the lesser black-backed gull and herring gull, to conserve plants and animals or protect public health and safety.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
To apply for a licence to control wild birds for conservation or health and safety purposes that are no longer covered by a general licence, you need to submit a screening form. These birds are:
- herring gull
- jackdaws
- jays
- lesser black-backed gull
- rooks
- other wild birds to conserve green-listed species
- other wild birds for public health or safety reasons, such as woodpigeon, Egyptian goose, magpie or carrion crow
Criteria you must meet to get a licence
Natural England will only issue you with a licence if you can show that:
- a problem is occurring, or likely to occur – and the target species is causing it
- you have tried non-lethal solutions or you can show that they would not be effective or practical
- there are no suitable alternative methods of control
- action you take under the licence will contribute to resolving the problem
- action you take under the licence will not negatively affect the conservation status of the wild bird
If your application does not meet all these criteria, Natural England will reject your application.
Using the licence
You can use this licence to control wild birds, their nests and eggs by:
- killing them
- taking them
- using a prohibited method of control on them
If you use a trap or decoy bird, you must follow the standard licence conditions in WML-GL33.
Before you apply
You may be able to control wild birds without a licence by using alternative non-lethal measures. Read about the non-lethal methods you can use to deter certain wild birds without a licence (GU01).
If non-lethal methods do not resolve the situation, check if your circumstances are covered by one of Defra’s general licences for birds. You do not need to apply for a general licence.
The general licences do not cover the lesser black-backed gull or herring gull because of their poor conservation status.
Integrated management plan: for health and safety
If you need to control wild birds for health and safety, you must explain why non-lethal methods:
- did not solve the problem
- would not solve the problem if you tried them
Use the integrated management plan template to record this information. Natural England will ask you to attach this management plan to the application form they will send you after screening.
Control birds at an airfield
If you need to control birds at an airfield, check if the air safety class licence CL12 covers your circumstances.
If the air safety class licence CL12 does not cover your circumstances, submit an A08 application form to control wild birds for air safety purposes.
Control wild birds to prevent disease or serious agricultural damage
To apply for a licence to control wild birds to prevent disease or serious agricultural damage that are not covered by a general licence, you need to apply for an A08 licence.
Apply for an A09 licence
Complete a screening form to start applying for this licence.
Natural England will reply by email within 10 working days of receiving your completed screening form. Based on your screening answers, the email will tell you whether Natural England is likely to grant you a licence. The email will include a screening reference number and an A09 application form.
This licence is free.
You must not start lethal control before Natural England has granted your licence.
Report your actions
You must report any actions you take using this licence. Use the report form template provided to you by Natural England.
You must report within 2 weeks of your licence expiring, even if you’ve taken no action.
Send your completed form to Natural England using the details on the form.
Renew your licence
You must apply for a new licence when the licence expires. The expiry date is included on your licence.
Updates to this page
Last updated 17 October 2022 + show all updates
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We’ve removed references to disturbance of wild birds from the A09 form guidance.
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We've replaced the report form (LR09).
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Added a link to an online screening form when applying for an A09 licence.
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Updated the report form LR09 and the guidance. We have moved the form and guidance for the A08 licence (for the control of wild birds to prevent disease or agricultural damage) to a separate page.
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First published.