Hawk Board Guide to Legal Documentation for Raptor Keepers

This guide is intended to provide private individuals in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) with a basic understanding of the main legal paperwork required when keeping live, captive-bred birds of prey. It covers Schedule 4 registration under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Article 10 certificates (A10) for Annex A birds, and gifting/loan documentation.

It is your responsibility as a keeper or breeder to make sure that the bird is legally held, that you can prove that it is captive bred, and that its identification matches all its paperwork exactly as written on the documentation, as well as that the transaction itself is legal. As a new keeper, you are just as responsible as the previous keeper for checking the paperwork before you accept the bird into your care. Failure to comply with legal requirements can result in penalties and prosecution.

You are the keeper of any bird that is in your care or control even if you do not own the bird. So, birds you have on loan are also your responsibility.

If a bird in your possession requires any of the listed documentation, it will need to be permanently marked, normally with a closed ring or in some cases (where a closed ring is not suitable) microchipped in accordance with current legislation. If the permanent marking of the bird does not match the documents, is unreadable, has been removed or has been tampered with, the current keeper must resolve the issue and might have to obtain new paperwork before the bird can be transferred.

It is advisable to keep all documents in an ordered manner, so they can be located if required by the authorities. In addition, it is advisable that digital copies of the documents are stored remotely in the event of the loss or destruction of the paper copies.

Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

This is GB (England, Scotland and Wales) domestic law. Schedule 4 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act requires certain birds of prey to be registered with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). If there is a permanent change of keeper, the bird needs to be re-registered with the new, up-to-date details. If the bird spends less than 3 weeks at another address with the registered keeper, or up to 6 weeks with another keeper at the registered address, there is no need to re-register the bird. If in doubt, you should check with APHA (by email is advised) before temporarily moving a registered bird.

This Schedule 4 registration document is generally referred to as the “blue registration document”.

The birds currently on Schedule 4 are:

Honey buzzard
White-tailed eagle
Golden eagle
Goshawk
Marsh harrier
Montagu’s harrier
Osprey
Peregrine falcon*
Merlin*

• * Peregrines and Merlins are currently an exception: if the bird is correctly marked and has a valid A10 (SSC) certificate issued in GB, it does not require a separate blue registration document, and do not need to be re-registered with the new keeper. However, this is about to change so please keep yourself updated on the law (search gov.uk for “register a captive bird of prey”). Only A10’s issued in Great Britain can be used instead of the blue document. A10s issued outside Great Britain cannot be used for registration purposes.

• You do not need to register hybrids of Schedule 4 birds to comply with the above requirements. However, if you are using a Schedule 4 hybrid commercially you ill need to comply with the A10 requirements below.

Commercial use of birds of prey

Birds listed in Annex A under EU CITES require a GB-issued A10 certificate for commercial use. One exemption applies: if the A10 SSC was issued in the EU before 31 December 2020 (shown at the top of the certificate) and the bird was already in Great Britain by that date, the certificate remains valid for commercial use but not for WCA registration. EU A10 certificates issued on or after 31 December 2020 are not valid for commercial use in GB and must be replaced with one issued by APHA.

All UK native raptors are Annex A listed, but many other non-native birds of prey also fall under Annex A. You can check whether your species is listed in Annex A by searching for the bird’s Latin name on www.speciesplus.net. Any hybrid will be treated as Annex A if any of the species used in the cross are listed.

The law is very strict on commercial use; buying and selling are not the only activities regarded as commercial. Any type of gain to any party involved is also considered commercial, even before any transaction has taken place, such as advertising or keeping the bird for sale. Also, commercial breeding (any breeding when the young are sold), swapping for a favour or a bird, and commercial display of the bird are considered commercial. Annex A birds, and any part of them (even a single feather) cannot be used commercially without the correct A10. Note that an A10 for a live bird is not valid for the same bird once it is dead. It is not legal to buy/sell a bird and have the A10 posted afterwards, not even for a young bird where the application is submitted and approved but the A10 not received.

If you are away from home and using the bird commercially it is advisable to have a copy of the A10 with you – a photo on your phone is acceptable.

Check if your A10 is an SSC (Specimen Specific Certificate) or a TSC (Transaction Specific Certificate). This is normally indicated by two tick boxes somewhere on the A10 but can vary on older certificates. The box that is ticked verify if the A10 is only valid for the holder named in box 1.

SSC A10 – Box YES is NOT ticked. Issued for the individual specimen, stays with the bird throughout its life and is subject to the condition/s on the A10 throughout every change of ownership or keeping. There is no need to change the A10 into your name, unless the description of specimen in box 4 changes. You need the original A10 certificate at the same time as you take possession of the bird.

TSC A10 – Box YES is ticked. This type of A10 is valid ONLY for the holder named in Box 1. The seller must return the A10 to APHA once the bird is no longer in their possession. Therefore, it is very important that you obtain a copy of the TSC A10. If you want to use the bird commercially you need to apply for a new A10 issued in your name and you will need the details from its existing A10 in order to apply. To apply for a replacement A10 search gov.uk for “Apply for a CITES permit”.

Gifting/Unconditional loan

You do not need an A10 simply to give an Annex A bird away or place it on an unconditional non-commercial loan. However, if it is a Schedule 4 bird it does need to be registered with the new keeper (as already detailed above). The recipient must complete a form found on GOV.UK website search “WLRS02 - Declaration of receipt of an Annex A specimen by way of gift or unconditional loan”. Both parties need to sign, and the new keeper should keep the gifting/loan declaration and any paperwork showing the bird's origin and legal acquisition. APHA may require this information if an A10 is applied for later.

Paper work for species not on Schedule 4 nor on Annex A

Many common falconry species are not listed in the above legislation. However, that does not mean that no paperwork is required.

Holders of these species should ensure they can prove that they are holding them legally. Proof can be a receipt from the breeder or a letter from the person you obtained the bird from.

Breeders of Schedule 4 species or Annex A species

If you breed any of the species listed in the above legislation it is your responsibility to obtain the blue registration document and/or an A10 as required. No commercial use is permitted until you have the physical A10. To apply for an A10 search gov.uk for “Apply for a CITES permit”.