East Suffolk Council
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.
Certain species enjoy absolute protection, and cannot be killed, injured or their eggs and nests disturbed under any circumstances. For example, Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus),are an endangered species and enjoy absolute protection under the Act.
Prevention
Very often, it is the consequences of wild birds foraging for food in urban areas, or nesting on rooftops and chimney stacks which brings them into close proximity to people, giving rise to conflict.
You can help to prevent this by;
- ensuring that you do not put food out for wild birds indiscriminately – use a feeding station which prevents larger birds like Gulls from getting at the food.
- store any food wastes in gull-proof containers (e.g a wheelie bin rather than a black plastic sack)
- gull-proofing any roof valleys, bay roofs, ledges or other spaces which might provide an attractive nesting site for these species. (An internet search will yield several products capable of assisting with this and companies willing to offer advice or carry out works, usually at a cost).
A General Licence allows 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, the fact that they leave droppings or 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.
When dealing with birds which can be dealt with under the terms of a General Licence, 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.
The Council's approach
The Council has no special responsibility for dealing with Gulls. They are wild birds and as such are not “kept” by any individual, so there is no recourse under statutory nuisance law.
Any action taken in respect of any particular problem will be at the discretion of the owner of the land where the problem exists.
Surveys show the culling of seagulls is mainly unsuccessful for the reason that any local population which is reduced by culling will very quickly increase back up to the original optimum number with younger birds taking up territories previously occupied by adults.
Who can I contact?
Before undertaking any action, except proofing outside of the nesting season, we recommend you seek expert advice on current legislation from Natural England, Tel: 0300 060 6000