Fresno County, CA Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

Fresno County Code Section 13.16.030 governs conduct in county-owned parks and recreation areas, and subsection F specifically makes it unlawful for any person to "kill, wound, chase or capture any wild bird or animal" inside those areas. The prohibition carries a built-in exception: it "shall not apply to the duly authorized agents of the county in the necessary control of predatory birds or animals," so county wildlife-control staff can still act on nuisance predators without violating the ban that applies to the public. The chapter defines its own reach in Section 13.16.010: it covers "all land, lakes, rivers and roadside rests... which are owned or operated by the county as a public park or public recreation area," but it expressly "shall not apply to the Courthouse Park," which is governed instead by the separate Chapter 13.20 rules for that specific downtown site.

Section 13.16.030 groups the bird-and-animal ban alongside a dozen other park conduct rules in the same subsection list, including bans on lighting unauthorized fires, discharging firearms, gambling, and letting domestic animals run loose, all enforced under the same penalty framework. Because Chapter 13.16 does not set its own penalty schedule, violations fall back to the county's general Section 1.12.010 penalty for ordinance violations: a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $500 fine, up to six months in jail, or both, with each day of a continuing violation counted as a separate offense.

Permits and day-to-day enforcement for county parks run through the director of public works and planning or a designee, the same official who issues camping and reservation permits under Section 13.16.040 and can adopt additional park rules under Section 13.16.050.