The APHA has informed us that RPRA clubs and federations are not submitting their APHA Appendix 1 forms, as required.  

During the racing season APHA must be informed of your intention to bring together multiple lofts for the purpose of pigeon racing – including marking – under the terms of the General Licence for Bird Gatherings. (Although it is called a general licence, no actual licence is issued – APHA just require to be informed. Please be aware that no gatherings will be allowed in any Avian Influenza Surveillance Zone or Protection Zone – currently none.)

You MUST therefore submit a duly completed form to the APHA at least seven days in advance of your first liberation. The form is downloadable here. Submit this by e-mail to [email protected] (England), or [email protected] (Wales), or your local Field Services Office (Scotland). 

The following are examples of gatherings:

• pigeons brought together, including vehicles or crates, for pigeon racing;
• bird fairs, markets, shows, sales, or exhibitions.

You will need to provide the following information:

• date (or range of dates) of the gatherings;
• location of gathering (full postal address and postcode);
• types and numbers of birds expected;
• purpose of the gathering (for example, show, sale or racing);
• your name, address and contact phone number, and an email address and mobile number.

APHA will notify the local authority about the gathering on your behalf.

You must keep records of bird gatherings for at least 3 months after each event, including:

• name, address, and contact number of anyone moving birds to and from the gathering;
• types and numbers of birds exhibited, raced, transported, bought or sold at the gathering.

APHA or the local authority may ask you for this information. Consult the general licence available on the Defra website for definitive requirements on taking and retaining records of bird gathering, which we do anyway with each member’s race entry sheet.