Guidance for applicants - licences to control predatory birds for the conservation of wild birds

Please note that our assessment will be based on information provided by the applicant and information available through national and international assessments and research reports. We recognise that not all applicants will be able to source regional and national data. We can help with this.

• Trends and conservation status of the bird you are applying for a licence to conserve  (Section C in the application form)

A licence can only be issued where there is likely to be a benefit to the regional, Scottish or UK conservation status of the wild bird. We need to be clear on the conservation status of the wild bird which you wish to conserve. Sources of information on conservation status can be found in the report - Birds of Conservation Concern 5. Where the bird is of high conservation concern, e.g. Red or Amber listed under BoCC or Endangered/Critically Endangered under the GB IUCN assessment, we will take this into account in our assessment.

We also need recorded observations of the number of breeding pairs of the bird you are trying to conserve and whether this number is increasing or decreasing annually. The information we require includes:

• Regular or annual bird count data – this could include information from local bird surveys (e.g. BTO Atlas data) (please note that we can help provide this information).
• Direct observations of the bird species you are trying to conserve – we are looking for written records and photographs detailing the number of birds you have observed, how many are breeding/nesting. This could be collected through:
  • Repeated monitoring of fields, survey transects or other survey methods.
  • Images or videos from nest cameras.

This information should be collated over the previous breeding season, or two seasons and recorded in the templates provided in Annex 4 (or Annex 1 in the licence application form).

Further information and guidance on how to monitor waders (which may also be applicable to other birds) is available on the Working for Waders website.  In particular the ‘Decision Making Guide’ document provides information on different methods of counting birds, including advice on setting up and using transects, on how to use nest cameras and other ways to collect information on the numbers and behaviours of birds.

• Details of predation and trends and conservation status of the predatory species (Section D in the application form)

We need information on the trends and conservation status of the bird you are applying to control.  We need to know whether or not it is a species of conservation concern and if so at what level. It is important that we assess the impact of a licence on the predatory bird as well as the bird of conservation concern. We need to know whether there have been recent increases in the predatory bird at the location covered by the licence application, and if so what the nature of these increases has been e.g. presence of non-breeding flocks. We need to know details of predation on the prey species. The information we require includes:

• Records of numbers of birds counted from fixed points and recorded in the template included at Annex 4.
• Clear date-stamped records of observations of predation Information gathered from fixed points.

• Significance of the locality to the bird you are wishing to conserve (Section E in the application form)

We need to understand the significance of the area covered by the licence application to the wild bird species you want to conserve. We need to know if the area is a regionally, nationally or internationally important area for breeding, or a combination of these. This information may be found in relevant hot spot/cold spot maps, surveys or monitoring reports covering the local and regional area. If you don’t know if this information exists or how to access it please contact the NatureScot licensing team.

• Other satisfactory solutions which could be applied (Section F in the application form)

A satisfactory solution is any reasonable action which can be taken that does not require a licence but which will remove or reduce the predatory impact. NatureScot must be satisfied there is no other non-licensable action / satisfactory solution before issuing a licence. We require information on all management measures which you have used to attempt to remove or reduce the predatory bird impacts, along with when, where and how you have used them and an assessment of their effectiveness. It may be that such measures have been tried unsuccessfully elsewhere (in the local area or more widely).  If so, give details to help provide sufficient evidence. Examples of other solutions are listed above and include scarers and deterrents, habitat management and use of physical barriers.

Types of evidence

Below sets out the different types of evidence we will use to assess a licence application. We don’t expect the applicant to provide all of this detail.  We need substantiated records/photos/videos of local observations from the applicant (as described in Annex 1 above).  Together these different types of evidence will help us assess whether the application will meet the licensing tests.

• Scientific reports, published peer reviewed scientific literature including commissioned reports, scientific journals, literature reviews, PhDs, technical and research papers, official publications.
• Local observations & knowledge, local knowledge of the area and observations of any changes, impacts on wild birds, other factors etc. accompanied by material evidence, for example date-stamped photographs, records from surveys/bird counts, records from mapped vantage points, images or video footage from nest cameras. Membership questionnaires could also be referenced. The templates at Annex 4 should be used to record this information.
• Expert judgement we will draw on experts’ judgement to help assess the evidence and to add any other relevant points.

Assessing the quality of the evidence

Below sets out how we will assess the quality of these different types of evidence:

• Scientific reports

We will take peer reviewed science into account. This includes reports containing substantiated evidence of the status of wild birds, of the risks to their conservation status and of their susceptibility to predators. We will take into account evidence on the status of predatory birds and their likely impacts on wild birds. We will also take into account reports on predator-prey interactions.

Each report will require to meet the following criteria:

• Be relevant, timely and applicable – i.e. need to take into account the time frame in which the evidence was collected and the conclusions drawn and assess whether the conclusions are still accurate, applicable and timely.
• Have a clear correlation to Scotland.
• Either be on a specific species or group of species or on a topic like habitat control or predation.

We will reference each report which we take into account and highlight specific extracts which have been referred to. We will consider both natural and social science where relevant and possible.

• Local observations & knowledge

Local knowledge and observations are another part of the evidence required to assess a licence application. As with the scientific reports this type of evidence needs to be substantiated. Opinions in themselves are insufficient. We require information to be collected and collated using appropriate standards and methodologies. This will allow for verification by expert views, including ornithologists.

Applying for a licence for the conservation of wild birds which are allegedly being predated. You can download a licence application form and guidance from the following link Licence application form - to control predatory species for conserving wild birds

Alternatively, you can e-mail: [email protected]

Working for Waders resources - in particular the wader calendar which is designed for farmers but would work just as well for other practitioners
Working for Waders resources - in particular the decision making guide

BIRD OF CONSERVATION CONCERN SURVEY RECORDING FORM

Record the observed number (or presence) of each species of bird of conservation concern. If possible, indicate how many of these birds you observed with young and any alarm-calling, any that are agitated or exhibit mobbing behaviours. Please also note any nests or eggs you have observed (please be careful not to disturb nesting birds). Please note the method you have used to collect this information e.g. nest cameras, observations going about daily business or walking a transect line (for further guidance on how to monitor waders (this may be useful for monitoring other  birds as well) please see the Working for Waders guidance.

Other comments may include observations regarding weather conditions or prior disturbance that might have influenced bird numbers or direction of flight for birds that fly away. It would also be useful to reference any photographic or video evidence which you have captured to go alongside any observations recorded above.

PREDATORY BIRD SURVEY RECORDING FORM

Record the observed number of predatory birds. Note any observations of predation e.g. taking of eggs or chicks. Please note the method you have used to collect this information e.g. nest cameras, observations going about daily business or walking a transect line (for further guidance on how to monitor waders (this may be useful for monitoring other  birds as well) please see the Working for Waders guidance.