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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Swindon Addick" data-source="post: 3380977" data-attributes="member: 69901">As far as I'm aware there's no extra protection for any species just from being on the list. The protection for nesting birds doesn't depend on whether the BOU regard them as Cat A, C or E, it's just a matter of whether they're nesting in the wild rather than in captivity. Nesting in the wild means a licence is needed to destroy the nest or take the eggs.There's then a list of species, which is quite restricted, for which Natural England grant general licences to destroy their nests in certain circumstances. The BOU's views on whether an introduced species has become established are certainly relevant in deciding whether a species should be included, and I'm not suggesting that Natural England wouldn't listen to BOU's views and take note of the categories, but it's NE's decision whether a species goes on that list. So, Cat C or not, destroying the nests of Muscovy Ducks needs a licence. I always wondered whether the local authority was aware of that, but since they've stopped culling it's not really important. They could always apply for a licence to resume the cull if they wished to.</blockquote>