Southfield, MI Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

Southfield's animal-cruelty chapter carries a stand-alone wild-bird provision at Code § 9.65, titled "Cruelty to poultry" but written to cover any wild bird. The operative text makes it a crime to molest, injure, kill or capture a wild bird, or to disturb its nest, anywhere in the city, unless some other law specifically allows the conduct, such as a state hunting regulation, nuisance-wildlife permit, or licensed rehabilitator authorization. The section sits in Chapter 113, the City of Southfield Animal Control Ordinance, adopted under 1919 PA 339 and enforced by the animal control officer and the Southfield Police Department alongside the neighboring cruelty-to-animals ban in § 9.64, which separately punishes killing, torturing, maiming or poisoning any animal.

A violation of § 9.65 is a misdemeanor, not a civil infraction, so it is prosecuted in court rather than resolved through a ticket and civil fine. The maximum penalty is ninety days in jail, a $500 fine, or both, matching the penalty set for cruelty to animals under § 9.64 and for harboring a dangerous or exotic animal under § 9.70. Unlike the dog and cat provisions elsewhere in Chapter 113, § 9.65 carries no separate registration, licensing or permit scheme: it is a flat prohibition on molesting wild birds and their nests, so a resident cannot cure a violation by obtaining a permit after the fact the way they could for a natural lawn or a backyard-fowl coop.