Roanoke, VA Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

City Code Sec. 6-3 declares the whole area inside Roanoke's corporate limits a bird sanctuary, and authorizes the city manager to erect signs or plaques at major highway entrances and other prominent locations announcing that status, funded through council appropriations. Sec. 6-4 backs that designation with a criminal prohibition: it is unlawful for any person to intentionally kill, injure, molest, or, without an official license, trap a songbird or wild game bird, or to rob or unnecessarily disturb the nest of any such bird, anywhere within the city.

Because Chapter 6 does not carve out a separate penalty for this section, the general violations clause in Sec. 6-1 controls, making an unlicensed taking or nest disturbance a Class 4 misdemeanor. The provision reaches both the birds themselves and their nests, meaning removing or destroying an active nest without an official license is treated the same as harming the bird directly. A related cross-reference bars hunting or molesting wildlife in the city's Carvins Cove watershed area under Sec. 35-29, showing the bird-protection policy extends into city-owned outlying land as well as the built-up city proper. Enforcement falls to animal wardens within the police department, designated under Sec. 6-2, who carry the same authority as state-defined animal control officers.