Burien, WA Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

Burien Municipal Code § 9.20.300 is the city's own bird protection provision, found in the Burien criminal code under Title 9. It reaches any person who wilfully and without authority in law kills, wounds or traps an animal or bird, or removes or destroys the young of any such animal or the egg of any such bird. The section names birds directly rather than leaving them to a general animal rule, and it protects young and eggs as well as adult birds. The phrase "without authority in law" means conduct that the law authorizes falls outside the offense, though the section does not list those authorities itself.

Two neighboring sections in the same chapter round out the criminal side. BMC 9.20.200 makes it a misdemeanor to willfully and without authority in law kill, maim or disfigure an animal belonging to another, or to expose poisons or noxious substances intended to be taken by an animal. BMC 9.20.100 adopts RCW 16.52.207, animal cruelty in the second degree, by reference.

City parks add their own protection. BMC 7.30.280 makes it unlawful in any park to feed, capture, attempt to capture, tease, annoy, disturb, or strike any wild bird or wild animal, or to throw or otherwise propel any object at or in the vicinity of one. The only carve-out is for fishing and shell fishing in authorized areas, subject to Washington State Fish and Wildlife Commission rules. BMC 7.30.180 also bars letting a dog or other pet bite, disturb or harass wildlife in a park.

Backyard feeding is regulated too. BMC 6.40.100 makes it unlawful to feed, or allow domestic or wild animals or birds to feed outdoors, at such times and in such numbers that the feeding creates an unreasonable disturbance or accumulation of droppings on surrounding properties including public property, or that feed or edible waste remains uneaten for more than four hours.