New York, NY Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

Administrative Code § 17-200, enacted by Local Law 2019/201 and effective January 24, 2020, makes it citywide law that no person other than an exempt person may take or attempt to take, or possess or attempt to possess, any wild bird. The section defines take broadly: to harry, bait, net, snare, trap, capture, hunt, shoot, injure or kill. Wild bird is defined just as broadly, covering any bird, including a pigeon, that lives in the wild or in an undomesticated state, so the ban reaches everyday street pigeons as well as songbirds, raptors and waterfowl. The prohibition applies citywide across all five boroughs and is not limited to parkland; a person who nets a pigeon on a stoop is covered the same as one who traps a hawk in a park.

Four categories of people are carved out under subdivision d. Employees of a law enforcement agency or of the Department of Parks and Recreation acting within the scope of their duties are exempt, as is anyone acting under a permit, license or privilege issued by the state Department of Environmental Conservation or by the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Any other agency or person already authorized to take, possess, receive, transport, buy or sell a wild bird stays exempt only so long as they have not violated the terms of that authorization. The fourth exemption protects a bystander who tries to rescue an injured or endangered wild bird for the purpose of getting it to treatment, provided the rescue attempt is not otherwise unlawful.