Harrisburg, PA Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

The bird rule in the Harrisburg Codified Ordinances sits in Chapter 10-301, the park rules adopted by the City Council as Ord. No. 22-1973, and it applies only inside City parks. Section 10-301.1 defines a park as a park, reservation, playground, recreation center or any other area in the City owned or used by the City and devoted to active or passive recreation or leisure activity.

Section 10-301.4(A) lists the banned conduct toward any animal, reptile or bird in a park: hunt, molest, harm, frighten, kill, trap, chase, tease, shoot, or throw missiles. It also bars removing or possessing the young of any wild animal, or the eggs, nest or young of any reptile or bird. The only exception for those acts is aiding the animal when it is in distress. A separate proviso lets snakes known to be deadly poisonous, such as rattlesnakes and copperheads, be killed on sight.

Section 10-301.4(B) addresses feeding. No person gives or offers or attempts to give any animal or bird in any City park tobacco, alcohol, or other known noxious substances. The wording is about harmful substances, not about ordinary park feeding.

Other park sections reinforce it. Section 10-301.3 prohibits damaging, cutting, carving, transplanting or removing any tree or plant in a City park, which protects nesting trees. Section 10-301.27 requires any dog or other animal to be on a leash at all times while on the premises of a City-owned public park, and § 10-301.17(C) bars firecrackers, rockets, other fireworks, explosives or inflammable materials in a park except as authorized by the Director.

Enforcement runs through § 10-301.99: park rangers, police officers, Department of Parks, Recreation and Enrichment officials or any other person authorized to enforce ordinances give warnings or notices, and a park ranger or other authorized official can issue a citation under Rule 51 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure.