Register call birds to help fight avian flu in Scotland

The Scottish government has confirmed that call birds kept in multicatch cages and Larsen traps are now considered kept birds and must legally be registered. 

In an effort to monitor and combat bird flu, the UK Government requires all kept birds to be registered. Following recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza, it was decided earlier this year to lower the minimum number of kept birds requiring registration from 50 to a single bird. 

There is no specific deadline to register call birds in Scotland, but it must be done within one month of the trap’s activation. 

The Scottish government has clarified that registered locations of traps can be broad, reflecting land units rather than individual traps. Multiple traps on the same land unit do not need to be separately registered. 

A spokesman for the Scottish Gamekeepers Association told Shooting Times: “We are already getting communications from members regarding this, many wondering exactly what this will do to better the situation regarding avian flu. We have sought further clarification from officials on this as well as a number of related issues and await the results of those discussions.”