Santa Fe, NM Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

Section 5-8.12 SFCC 1987, part of the "Cruelty to Animals Prohibited" article of Chapter V, states plainly: it is unlawful to willfully kill any bird, or to molest or rob the nest of a bird. The provision traces to Code 1973 § 4-43, was carried forward through Ordinance #1980-39 and the 1981 and 1987 code recodifications, and has stood in essentially the same one-sentence form for decades. It sits alongside other blanket cruelty rules in the same article, including the poisoning ban in Section 5-8.5, the ban on hobbling livestock in Section 5-8.8, and the fowl-confinement welfare standard in Section 5-8.11, all enforced by the city's animal services administrator.

Unlike the exotic-animal and guard-dog sections later in the chapter, Section 5-8.12 creates no permit process and lists no exception for pest control, agricultural use or licensed hunting, so the administrator can act on a nest-robbing or bird-killing complaint the same way as any other Chapter V cruelty violation. The section does not distinguish wild birds from owned fowl, and it is separate from the fowl sale and confinement rules in Sections 5-8.11 and 5-9.2, which govern how a bird already in someone's possession must be housed and sold rather than whether it may be killed or its nest disturbed.