Seagulls
Legislation
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects all wild birds.
It is an offence to kill or injure any birds or their nests or eggs
unless acting under a licence and only in compliance with the
conditions of that licence. A General Licence allows "authorised
persons" to undertake certain actions which would otherwise be
illegal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act but only to certain
birds in certain circumstances.
“Authorised person” means the owner or occupier or any person
authorised by the owner or occupier of the land on which the action
authorised takes place.
Prevention
All non-lethal methods must be considered first, such as
deterrent devices, and only if none are thought suitable can lethal
measures then be considered.
A General Licences allows Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus),
Lesser Black-backed Gulls (Larus fuscus) and Great Black-backed
Gulls (Larus marinus) to be killed and their eggs and nests to be
damaged or destroyed, but only for the following reasons:
- Preserving public health or public or air safety
- Preventing the spread of disease.
- Preventing serious damage to livestock, foodstuffs for
livestock, crops, vegetables, fruit, growing timber, fisheries or
inland waters.
Noise from birds, that they leave droppings or the fact that
they open rubbish bags are NOT reasons under the Act. Killing or
injuring birds for these reasons is an offence and offenders can be
prosecuted.
The Council’s approach
As follows:
There are limited public health grounds for seagull control.
Surveys1 show the culling of seagulls is mainly
unsuccessful and that the numbers after a cull will shortly
increase back up to the original optimum number with younger birds
taking up territories previously occupied by adults.
If gulls have built a nest on your roof, they may return year
after year. As they live up to 30 years, the problem could persist
for a considerable time. We therefore recommend that you erect
deterrent devices to prevent the birds building their nests i.e.,
bird proofing measures. Preferably, this work should be done
outside the nesting season, as interfering with their nests may be
considered illegal. Because the gulls are powerful and determined,
proofing can be a difficult and dangerous operation. It is
therefore best undertaken by a responsible, specialised Pest
Control Company.
Who can I contact?
If you have any concerns regarding gulls on Council properties
please contact:
Housing Services
Dover District Council
White Cliffs Business Park
Dover CT16 3PJ
01304 821199
Before undertaking any action, except proofing outside of the
nesting season, we recommend you seek expert advice on current
legislation from
DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs),
tel: 0207 904 6000.
1 Coulson, JC (1991) "The population
dynamics of culling Herring Gulls Larus argentatus and Lesser
Black-backed Gulls L.fuscus". In Perrins CM, JP Lebreton and GM
Hirons (eds), Bird population studies. Relevance to conservation
and management. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Contact Environmental Health
Email: envhealth@dover.gov.uk
Telephone: 01304 872428
