What is "clay pigeon shooting"

Clay pigeon shooting, also known as clay target shooting, and formally known as Inanimate Bird Shooting, is the art of shooting a firearm at special flying targets, known as clay pigeons or clay targets.

The terminology commonly used by clay shooters often relates to times past, when live-pigeon competitions were held. Although such competitions were made illegal in the UK in 1921, a target may still be called a "bird", a hit may be referred to as a "kill", and a missed target as a "bird away"; the machine which projects the targets is still known as a "trap".