Rock Hill, SC Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

Section 6-3 of the Rock Hill City Code constitutes the entire territory of the city a bird sanctuary. Within that boundary, it is unlawful for any person to kill, injure, harm or molest any bird, or to destroy, injure, rob or molest the eggs, nests or breeding places of any bird. The protection is broad by design: it is not limited to game birds or songbirds and reaches nests and eggs as well as live birds. Two carve-outs narrow the rule. Destructive birds defined under South Carolina Code 1976 Section 50-1-30 fall outside the sanctuary protection, meaning species the state classifies as destructive can still be controlled, with one exception: the eagle remains protected even though it might otherwise qualify.

Separately, the starling and the pigeon are excluded outright, so those two species receive no protection under this section regardless of the state destructive-bird list. The current version of Section 6-3 was enacted by Ordinance No. 2023-21, adopted April 11, 2023, which repealed and replaced the former Article I of Chapter 6 in its entirety. Because the sanctuary sits in the general animals chapter rather than the zoning ordinance, it applies uniformly across every residential, commercial and industrial district in the city, with no zoning-based exemption for construction sites or agricultural parcels within city limits.