Hooded crows remain on pest birds list

19 January 2012

Latest update - 19th January

BASC has received the following advice from Natural England “the general licences do not permit hooded crows (Corvus cornix) to be controlled in England and we intend to consult on the inclusion of this species on future general licences later this year”.

BASC's response is "Given the lack of consultation by Natural England on the hooded crow and the bird's taxonomic history, BASC would regard any attempted prosecution for shooting or trapping a hooded crow to be an abuse of process and we would defend any member so accused pending the discussions that have been agreed to resolve the matter".

Previous update - 30th December

Two weeks before Christmas Natural England (NE) gave BASC and a small number of other stakeholders notice of their intention to change the wording of the 2012 general licences. One of these changes would have made it an offence to shoot, trap or use hooded crows as decoy birds in England from 1st January onwards. BASC made its concerns clear to officials at NE and called for a rethink.

However, when it became clear that the change to the status of the hooded crow was going to go ahead BASC, Countryside Alliance, National Gamekeepers Organisation and the Moorland Association approached Jim Paice MP, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food.  Mr Paice listened to our concerns and on 30th December he asked officials in NE to leave the reference to ‘crow’ (ie. carrion and hooded crow) in the English general licences unchanged pending further discussion with stakeholders.

Hooded crows - background

Two races of crow occur in the British Isles. The carrion crow has an all-black plumage whereas the hooded crow is partly black, with a distinctive grey back and under parts. The hooded crow is mainly found in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and sometimes in the North and East of England. 

Despite the fact that hooded and carrion crows have the same habits and freely interbreed, the British Ornithological Union (BOU) decided in 2002 to treat the two races of crow as separate species. This split has not been recognised in any European conservation listings but the BOU decision has been taken account of by some of the conservation agencies in the UK. For example, the general licences in both Scotland and the Isle of Man now list both carrion and hooded crows individually rather than using the term ‘crow’.

People regard the listing of ‘crow’ on the English general licences as meaning both races of crow as it has always done. BASC’s widely used quarry identification guide refers to both carrion and hooded crows as being pest species in England and there is no legal advice which contradicts that. However officials at NE now think that ‘crow’ means only carrion crow and they wanted to change the wording of the 2012 general licences to follow suit.

If, after proper consultation and notice, NE had decided to follow the approach taken in Scotland and the Isle of Man there would have been no problem. However, what they wanted to do would have effectively removed with a stroke of the pen the legal basis by which people can control hooded crows in England.

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