Salem, OR Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

SRC 94.120(a), inside chapter 94's park offenses, states that it is unlawful for any person to disturb, injure, damage, or kill any bird, bird nest, egg, or any squirrel or other animal within any park. The only carve-out is SRC 94.120(b), which lets the Parks Director issue permits to state agencies and educational institutions for field experiments, trapping and wildlife relocation inside a park under conditions the Director sets; there is no general public exception.

Ducks get a second, broader layer of protection outside chapter 94. SRC 95.235(a), in the miscellaneous offenses chapter, bars killing, injuring, taking or molesting any duck or any duck nest in, upon, or adjacent to any waters within the corporate limits of the City, which reaches the Willamette River, Mill Creek, Pringle Creek and any other city waters, not just park ponds. That section exempts the ducks' lawful owner or the owner's agent, and it exempts government flight-safety hazard abatement performed at McNary Field under federal aviation wildlife-hazard rules. SRC 95.235(b) separately lets the Director remove ducks that become a nuisance, or authorize a property owner to do so, when the number or behavior of wild or unowned ducks constitutes a nuisance in the Director's judgment.