I Love Birds

Is feeding garden birds and putting up ‘I Love Birds’ sign in front of house antisocial?

Josephine Crispin
5 min readSep 12, 2024
Pigeon on the roof of our sunroom. ©JosephineCrispin

TEN months ago, a 97-year-old widow, a retired piano teacher, was threatened by the local council with a Community Protection Notice (CPN) and a £100 fine if she does not cease from her antisocial behaviour.

In the UK, antisocial behaviour (ASB) is defined by the authorities as “behaviour by a person which causes, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to persons not of the same household as the person”.

A CPN, meanwhile, is aimed at stopping a person over the age of 16 from committing ASB which spoils the community’s quality of life.

So, you ask, what is this elderly widow’s antisocial behaviour that might earn her a criminal conviction (if she does not comply with the CPN)?

According to her, she was feeding sparrows and robins in her garden, something she took pleasure in as she watched the wild birds from her conservatory.

Took this photo showing a few doves at the bottom of a dovecote in a park in York, UK. ©JosephineCrispin

Abandoned pigeons

At the centre of the complaint, however, was the pigeons and seagulls attracted to the…

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Josephine Crispin

Writes about writing, nature, animals, the environment, social issues and spirituality. Editor and published author of romance novellas amongst other genres.