Hello,
I have just become a member of this online community and I am looking forward to getting more involved. I have a burning question and I would like to pick fellow bird lovers brains. I hope that someone might be able to help.
Does anyone know if destroying Nightingales habitat is a prosecutable offence and if anyone has been prosecuted in the past. I am aware that Nightingales are on the amber list and I know of a place where this destruction has happened. I am not saying that I am looking to prosecute but I am interested in this kinda stuff.
I hope someone can help!
Lou
Hi Alan,
Thanks for that information. Do Nightingales migrate? Do they tend to nest in the same places each year?
Hi Lou,
The birds themselves will be protected at all times while they are in the UK (April- September) and the nests will only be protected during the breeding season - once the nestlings have fledged the protection ends. I think they do tend to return to the same areas and once they have arrived in April they stick to a very small territory.
Welcome to the forum, by the way, hope we will see lots more of you!
Jenni
God gave us two ears and one mouth for a very good reason!
Thanks Jenni and Alan for that information!
I am looking forward to becoming more involved in this community. I have recently become very intersted in birds and there habits!
I assume they are sched 1 which means try cannot be disturbed when theyre here.
Hi Lou and welcome,
Nightingales arrive in the UK from Africa in April and stay here to breed until late summer. They favour dense patches of understory vegetation and whilst they are nest building or raising young they are afforded full protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Despite being a red listed species with dramatic recent population declines, they are not listed on Scedule 1 so disturbance is not a punishable offence. How the law does make any intentional damage or destruction to active nests an offence.
If you are aware of plans to remove or damage known nightingale nesting sites, they will indeed return to favourite sites, have a look at our Take Action pages that provide information about protecting wildlife sites near you.
Warden Intern at Otmoor.