Birmingham, AL Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

Section 6-1-119, the final section of Article C (Fowl) in Title 6, Chapter 1, provides in full that it shall be unlawful for any person to maim or kill any wild or migratory bird within the city. The section carries forward language from the 1964 and 1980 codes (Sec. 7-64) unchanged, and it is distinct from the surrounding poultry provisions: Section 6-1-114 restricts the sale of baby chicks and ducklings under two weeks old within ten days of Easter, Section 6-1-116 requires poultry coops to be ventilated and large enough for free movement, and Section 6-1-117 requires poultry that is shipped or stored to be regularly watered, fed and sheltered from weather.

Those sections apply to domesticated fowl kept commercially; Section 6-1-119 stands apart as the city's only protection for wild and migratory birds as such, and it does not carve out exceptions for nuisance species, property damage, or pest control, meaning the blanket prohibition applies citywide regardless of the bird species involved. The ordinance does not define 'wild or migratory bird,' so its reach depends on the ordinary meaning of those terms rather than a species list, and it operates independently of federal protections under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that separately cover many of the same species. No animal-control-specific penalty is written into Section 6-1-119, so a violation is enforced under the Code's general penalty provision.