Boca Raton, FL Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

Section 5-2, adopted in the original 1966 code, declares all territory within the corporate limits of the city a bird sanctuary and states flatly that it is unlawful for any person to shoot, kill, trap, catch, chase, injure or capture any wild bird. The provision sits in Chapter 5's general article alongside the citywide livestock and fowl ban (Sec. 5-1) and the ban on animals on public beaches (Sec. 5-3), and is cross-referenced in the chapter's opening footnote to the city's broader wildlife protection and preservation ordinance at Section 11-7.

Because the sanctuary declaration applies to the whole city rather than a designated park or preserve, it covers wild birds encountered on private property, commercial sites and public land alike. The section carries no built-in penalty of its own and no permit or wildlife-control exception is written into its text, so any activity capturing or harming a wild bird, including nuisance-bird removal, falls under this prohibition unless authorized separately under state or federal wildlife law outside the city's ordinance.