York County, VA Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

Sec. 17-35, "Preservation of natural resources and public buildings and property," opens Article III of Chapter 17 in York County, Virginia. Subsection (a) protects a long list of public-property features from possession, destruction, injury, defacement, removal or disturbance, and specifically names "egg, nest or nesting site" among the animal and plant matter covered, alongside buildings, signs, monuments, soil, fossils and historic artifacts; the only outs are what the section itself allows or a special permit. Subsection (c) reinforces this for anyone wanting to collect wildlife-related specimens: collection of animal life or other natural objects is permitted only under a written permit obtained in advance from the appropriate governing official, and permits go only to people officially representing a scientific or educational institution, never to individuals collecting for personal use.

A related rule sits a few sections later at Sec. 17-56(b), which separately bans hunting, killing, wounding, frightening, capturing or trapping wildlife, birds included, in a public area at any time, except when necessary to prevent injury or when the appropriate governing official deems it necessary for game management. Together the two sections mean a wild bird's nest, eggs and the bird itself are each protected on York County public land unless a permit or the emergency/game-management exception applies. Chapter 17's default Class 4 misdemeanor penalty in Sec. 17-4 and the ejection authority in Sec. 17-3(a) back both provisions.