Redding, CA Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)
Key Facts
- Protected areas
- Turtle Bay and Turtle Bay East
- Prohibited acts
- Hunt, kill, trap, or destroy any bird
- Nest protection
- No molesting or damaging nests or eggs
- Nuisance exception
- Council may order pest-bird control
- Signage
- City must post sanctuary boundary signs
Summary
Within Redding's two designated wild bird sanctuaries, Turtle Bay and Turtle Bay East, it is unlawful at any time to hunt, trap, kill, or destroy any bird or to molest or damage a nest or eggs, under Chapter 7.24, though the city council can order pest-bird control when a species becomes a nuisance.
Within any established wild bird sanctuary, no person shall, at any time, hunt, pursue, kill, trap, take or destroy any bird of any species whatsoever, and no person shall molest or damage the nest or the eggs of any bird of any species located within the confines of the sanctuary, except, however, that the city council may, at any time, when in its opinion starlings or crows or any other species of bird becomes so numerous within a designated bird sanctuary as to constitute a public nuisance or a danger to the public health, direct the animal control officer to take such measures as may be necessary to control the problem and eliminate the public nuisance or danger to the public health.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 48).
Full Breakdown
020 designates the city-owned park and recreation land known as Turtle Bay and Turtle Bay East, mapped in Exhibit A to Ordinance No. 1087 on file with the city clerk, as a wild bird sanctuary. 030 then bars, within any established sanctuary, hunting, pursuing, killing, trapping, taking, or destroying any bird of any species, and separately bars molesting or damaging any nest or eggs, with no time-of-year exception. The only carve-out lets the city council step in when it decides that starlings, crows, or another species has grown so numerous within a sanctuary that it constitutes a public nuisance or a danger to public health; in that case the council may direct the animal control officer to take necessary control measures.
040 requires the city to post signs at appropriate locations along a sanctuary's perimeter and access points notifying the public of the designation. 12: a misdemeanor unless state law or the city attorney classifies it as an infraction.
Violations & Fines
Hunting, trapping, killing, or destroying a bird within a designated sanctuary, or damaging a nest or its eggs, violates § 7.24.030. Because Chapter 7.24 sets no separate fine, the citywide default in § 1.12.020 applies: a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and six months in county jail, unless the city attorney reduces the charge to an infraction carrying escalating $100, $200, or $500 fines.
Frequently Asked Questions
What areas are protected as bird sanctuaries in Redding?
Can I be prosecuted for disturbing a bird's nest at Turtle Bay?
Are there any exceptions to the bird sanctuary rules?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Redding
California rules heatmap·Compare Redding to another location·View the California animal ordinances overview
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