Bloomfield, NJ Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

Chapter 399 of the Bloomfield Township Code governs Parks and Recreation Areas in Essex County, New Jersey, and § 399-6 is its wildlife protection section, headed 'Treatment of wild animals and birds.' The first half of the sentence covers birds. No person can hunt, molest, injure, capture or in any way interfere with the freedom of any bird that is free and undomesticated, and the rule applies in any park in the Township. The verbs run from hunting and injuring to capturing and molesting, and the closing phrase 'in any way interfere with the freedom' reaches conduct that stops short of physical harm.

The second half covers animals the Township owns. The same verbs apply to any squirrel, fish or other animal, being the property of the Township, in any such park. Birds carry no ownership condition: a free, undomesticated bird is protected simply by being in a park.

The section is a park rule. By its own words it reaches birds in a park in the Township, not a backyard or a street. Feeding is handled in other chapters. Section 134-27.2 prohibits feeding wildlife in any public park or on other property owned or operated by the Township, and it defines wildlife to include waterfowl and migratory birds. Subsection C(2) separately makes it unlawful to feed any migratory or resident waterfowl or wildlife on any private or public land within the Township, and subsection C(4) says the section does not apply to residential bird feeders. A person found feeding wildlife is ordered to cease immediately.

Other park rules in Chapter 399 sit beside bird protection. Section 399-2 bars encumbering or obstructing park sidewalks or areas without permission from the Director of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, § 399-4 requires that director's written permission for booths, stands and structures, and § 399-7 forbids defacing or damaging statuary and other park appurtenances.

Section 399-9 provides that any person who violates any provision of the chapter is punished as provided in § 1-15, General penalty, upon conviction.