I work at a wildlife rescue and rehab facility, and this week I had the extreme displeasure of having to report a business and their hired handymen to the US Fish and Wildlife Enforcement office. A citizen called, reporting that a business she lives across the street from had hired some workers who destroyed the nest of some seagulls that were nesting on top of the roof of the business, leaving the gulls and their babies to fend for themselves. Apparently the business didn’t appreciate the… mess… these seagulls were making on the roof and opted to have them removed. And apparently they don’t understand the law.
Migratory birds are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Act of 1918, which was created to help protect birds. It is a federal crime to violate this Act, intentional or unintentional. Violations include, but are not limited to:
- Deliberately hunting protected birds.
- Poisoning birds with improperly used pesticides.
- Poaching birds for sale as pets.
- Destroying nests or disturbing nesting birds.
- Raising wild birds as pets.
- Collecting wild bird eggs, nests, or feathers.
Punishments for these violations can be $500 in fines and 6 months in jail, or in extreme cases, $2000 in fines and up to 2 years in jail.
If you are fortunate enough to live near or with wildlife, please respect them and their habitats. They have every right to live where they live and do what they do, just as much as you.
Never A Dull Bling 
Just found your blog as a recommendation from http://shafali.wordpress.com/. As an animal lover and logical thinker I will never understand why they didn’t simply call professionals like your organisation for advice rather than hire the workers in the first place. I was really interested to read there were federal laws associated with the protection of migratory birds in the US. We haven’t got to that corner if the oceans yet but want to thank you for sparking my interest to find out more – does the organisation you work for have a website with more information or links?
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Thank you for visiting me! Mostly all wildlife rescues are non-profit and don’t receive federal funding. We’re a very small operation, permitted by Fish and Wildlife to save wildlife. That being said, here is a link to the Migratory Bird Act http://www.fws.gov/laws/lawsdigest/migtrea.html
and a link to US Fish and Wildlife http://www.fws.gov/ .
For legal reasons, I cannot specify which rescue center I work at as this blog is personal and I legally cannot use their name to promote my blog. I can, however, share my knowledge and my experiences in the hopes to educate people.
If you’d like any more links or specifics, let me know. I’m a wealth of information. 🙂
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The links are perfect to get me going, I read your post and thought “sheesh, I know ziltch about US conservation laws” and wanted to rectify some of my ignorance! so thank you very much for taking the time to find them for me and by following your blog I get all the best info first hand, straight to my reader 🙂
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Thank you for the work you do! We are long time enthusiastic bird lovers, both in our backyard habitat and in our travels. I don’t care if it’s a seagull, a pesky house sparrow or an eagle.. let them live! They’re all beautiful, and like you said.. PROTECTED! I did not know until last year that picking up a feather to bring home was illegal. It seems silly, but I get it.
There’s a couple local wildlife rescues near where we live, we visit and support them as often as we can. 🙂
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And thank YOU for supporting your local wildlife rescue!! We can’t do our job without wonderful people such as yourself!
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Would never do any of those. Legal or illegal, crime or not. Won’t ever kill or keep a bird in a cage. They are born to fly free. But thanks so much for your wonderful posts on wildlife.
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