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Attention Birds Eggs,illegal Sale (1 Viewer)

Geoff Pain

Geoff Pain

Rural Member
Attention Birds Eggs,Illegal Sale

Some bloke called peterfromexeter is selling 126 birds eggs on ebay.Someone had pointed out to him that it is illegal to sell birds eggs so he is now selling the tins thay are in and giving the eggs free.I've tried to send ebay an email to tell them that the whole operation is highley illegal, but can't get their system to accept my message.The auction finishes in about an hour and he's been bid about £122 so far HELP :C
 
Geoff Pain said:
Some bloke called peterfromexeter is selling 126 birds eggs on ebay.Someone had pointed out to him that it is illegal to sell birds eggs so he is now selling the tins thay are in and giving the eggs free.I've tried to send ebay an email to tell them that the whole operation is highley illegal, but can't get their system to accept my message.The auction finishes in about an hour and he's been bid about £122 so far HELP :C
Click to expand...

reported to ebay and RSPB enforcement team
 
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Bluetail said:
Well done, Simon! Only 42 minutes left. Let's hope ebay can do something.
Click to expand...
High bidder in St Austell, even if it goes through. May be worth warning him of the purchase he is about to make, he is selling items so contact can be made.
 
Perhaps, best leaving this alone. Let things work out. Never know, egg collectors may be showing themselves.

Regards

Malky. (Perhaps, best to read between the lines )
 
Andy Bright said:
High bidder in St Austell, even if it goes through. May be worth warning him of the purchase he is about to make, he is selling items so contact can be made.
Click to expand...

Who ever is the eventual purchaser is also breaking the law unless he can proof that the eggs were collected before 1954-

It has been illegal to take birds' eggs from the wild since 1954. Since September 1982, with the introduction of the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act, it has also been against the law simply to possess the egg of any British wild bird.

In effect whoever purchases the eggs must proof in court that they were taken pre 1982 , it may also interst the RSPB to get a list of bidders,who are they potential egg collectors?

I don't believe the purchasers should be contacted let them have a knock on the door by the enforcement team
 
I have e-mailed the seller to point out the illegality of the sale/possession & also contacted the RSPB.

Cheers,

John.
 
Having just re-read Simon's post, perhaps bidding was not the best thing for me to do. In an attempt to stop him selling the eggs, i might have inadvertantly dropped myself in it.
 
Forgive my ignorance, but are eggs collected just to have them or to hopefully hatch birds or what? I don't understand the attraction of having a bird egg.
 
We found this yesterday and it is in the hands of our Investigation team but I imagine Ebay have no desire to see this thing go ahead. Just a few points to refine on what Simon said. It is not an offence to have possession of eggs or an egg collection providing the owner can prove the eggs were collected before 1956. It is not even an offence to give the collection away but it is an offence to trade the collection. This does not have to be a money transaction because it is still an offence to swap the collection for another object. It is an offence to have possession of an egg taken after 1956 unless the egg came from a captive bird. Even then, the emphasis is on the owner to prove all this and not for the Police to prove otherwise. I know of one person who came into possession of a genuinly antique collection by legal means then foolishly was tempted to add to this with an allegedly captive peregrine's egg offered in his pub. Needless to say, his collar took on a slightly worn look when it was felt by the local Police much to his surprise and distress. For the last three years, I have been advising people to destroy old collections after the death of the family member who owned the collection. The person offering the collection on Ebay is being particularly cynical or perhaps he is just taking the proverbial. Still, he is probably doing a massive favour by inadvertently closing a loophole.

Ian

Edited revision: Ebay seems to have removed the item from the site again. Despite the attempted clever wording, the eggs were being offered as an incentive and therefore were being traded and this still breaks the Wildlife & Countryside Act.
 
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Kevin Mac said:
Forgive my ignorance, but are eggs collected just to have them or to hopefully hatch birds or what? I don't understand the attraction of having a bird egg.
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Hi Kevin-

It's just about having the eggs, and I also don't understand the attraction.

Apparently egg collecting became quite popular during Victorian times. The practice still has a few (or many?) misguided devotees.

-Adam
 
"Ian Peters" "We found this yesterday and it is in the hands of our Investigation team but I imagine Ebay have no desire to see this thing go ahead. Just a few points to refine on what Simon said. It is not an offence to have possession of eggs or an egg collection providing the owner can prove the eggs were collected before 1956. It is not even an offence to give the collection away but it is an offence to trade the collection. This does not have to be a money transaction because it is still an offence to swap the collection for another object. It is an offence to have possession of an egg taken after 1956 unless the egg came from a captive bird."

Ian, just curious, how does the above statement meet with current European legislation with regards to the date 1956, in relation to the offence of possession.

Regards

Malky
 
I'm not sure that there is a piece of European legislation that deals specifically with bird eggs (does the Birds Directive?), and even if there were, any EU directive needs to be 'translated' into UK Law unless existing nation state legislation delivers the action the Directive was written to encourage. In this case, the amended Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (which was amended as recently as 2000 in relation to offenses to wild birds) is seen as adequate in this regard.

Having advised a natural history society recently on the sale of a butterfly collection containing material that is included on schedule 5 of the WCA '81, I agree with Ian's take - the only caveat I'd add is that I was under the impression that the cut-off date for offences relating to egg collections is September 1982, not 1954 (As the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 effectively repealed the Wild Birds Act and you can't be prosecuted under a repealed Act). Therefore if you can prove that a collection pre-dates September 1982 then it's generally regarded to be 'legal'. That certainly appears to be the CPS read on it, anyway.
 
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