Details

This general licence lets you sell captive bred live wild birds.

Any bird sold under this licence must have been bred in captivity. Its parents must have been in lawful captivity when the egg was laid. You need documents to prove this.

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

Birds you cannot sell under this licence

You cannot sell any bird on annex A of Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 unless you have an article 10 certificate.

You also cannot sell:

• mute swans
• ruddy ducks
• Egyptian geese

Birds that do not need a close ring to be sold under this licence

Most captive birds sold under this licence need to be close rung, but there are some exceptions.

You do not need to ring:

• pintails
• American wigeons
• shovelers
• common teals
• blue-winged teals
• wigeons
• mallards
• garganeys
• black ducks
• gadwalls
• white-fronted geese
• greylag geese
• pink-footed geese
• snow geese
• lesser white-fronted geese
• bean geese
• ring-necked ducks
• pochards
• tufted ducks
• scaups
• brent geese
• goldeneyes
• long-tailed ducks
• Bewick’s swans
• whooper swans
• harlequin ducks
• velvet scoters
• common scoters
• surf scoters
• smews
• hooded mergansers
• goosanders
• red-breasted mergansers
• red-crested pochards
• Steller’s eiders
• eider ducks
• king eiders
• shelducks

Wild birds you do not need a licence to sell

You do not need a licence to sell captive bred birds fitted with a close ring from an authorised supplier if they’re:

• blackbirds 
• bramblings 
• bullfinches 
• buntings, reed 
• chaffinches 
• dunnocks 
• goldfinches 
• greenfinches
• jackdaws 
• jays 
• linnets 
• magpies 
• barn owls
• redpolls 
• siskins 
• starlings 
• song thrushes 
• twites 
• yellowhammers