Calvert County, MD Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

Section 82-2-106 of the Calvert County Code, part of the county's 2019 parks ordinance, layers several protections for wildlife, including birds, onto Department of Parks and Recreation property. Subsection B(6) makes it unlawful for anyone to remove or cause to be removed or have in their possession the young of any wild animal, including, but not limited to, the eggs, nests, or young of any animal, reptile, or bird, directly barring nest-robbing or egg collecting anywhere in a county park. The same subsection layers on broader protection: § 82-2-106B(4) bars anyone from intentionally molesting, harming, hunting, killing, trapping, frightening, or chasing any animal unless authorized in writing by the Board of County Commissioners, State of Maryland, or Calvert County Sheriff's Office, and § 82-2-106B(5) separately outlaws taking, molesting, harming, frightening, killing, trapping, hunting, chasing, teasing, shooting, or throwing projectiles at any domestic animal, wild animal, mammal or marine life, naming terrapins and crabs specifically.

There is no exception for a person who merely wants to relocate a nest or handle young birds themselves; the code channels any lawful taking through written authorization from one of those three named authorities. The chapter applies to Department-managed park property in unincorporated Calvert County, outside Chesapeake Beach and North Beach, which govern their own parks. As with the rest of Chapter 82, violations are enforced under § 82-1-104: a $50 civil penalty for each day of violation, collectible as a civil debt if unpaid within 30 days, plus possible loss of eligibility for Department rentals or programs; a person who refuses to leave when ordered by law enforcement or a Department official faces a misdemeanor with up to a $1,000 fine, six months' imprisonment, or both.