Sunnyvale, CA Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Feeding (2026)
Key Facts
- Core ban
- feeding or attracting any wild animal, incl. birds
- Also banned
- storing or scattering accessible food/seed
- Exemption 1
- CDFW-licensed wild animal owners
- Exemption 2
- temporary care of injured/trapped wildlife
- Exemption 3
- permitted wildlife rehabilitators
- Exemption 4
- suspended, debris-free bird feeders
- Violation class
- infraction under Chapter 1.04
Summary
Sunnyvale bars feeding or attracting wild animals, including birds, citywide under Municipal Code Section 6.02.050, and also bans leaving or scattering food, seed, or other edible matter where any wild animal can reach it. Five narrow exemptions cover licensed exotic-pet owners, temporary care of injured wildlife, permitted rehabilitators, legal trapping, and properly hung bird feeders.
(a) It is unlawful for any person to feed or in any manner provide an attractant to wild animals, including birds. (b) No person may leave, store, or maintain any attractant, or scatter food, seed, or other forms of matter edible to animals in a location and manner accessible to any wild animal or bird. (c) The prohibitions in subsections (a) and (b) do not apply to: ... (5) Any person with a bird feeder provided the feeders are suspended on a cable or other device to make them inaccessible to wild animals and the area below the feeders are kept free from the accumulation of seed debris.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4856529; v14 updated 2026-05-19).
Full Breakdown
050(a) makes it unlawful for any person to feed or in any manner provide an attractant to wild animals, including birds, and subsection (b) closes an obvious loophole by also banning leaving, storing, or maintaining any attractant, or scattering food, seed, or other matter edible to animals, in a location and manner accessible to any wild animal or bird. Read together the two subsections cover both direct feeding of deer, geese, raccoons, coyotes, or birds and passive attractants like open feed bags or spilled seed.
Subsection (c) lists five exemptions: the legal owner of a wild animal kept under a valid California Department of Fish and Wildlife license or permit; anyone feeding a trapped, injured, or unweaned wild animal between the time animal control is notified and the animal is picked up; a wildlife rehabilitator operating under a valid CDFW permit; anyone using an attractant to trap an animal in a legally authorized manner; and anyone with a bird feeder, provided it is suspended on a cable or similar device to keep it inaccessible to wild animals and the area below is kept free of accumulated seed debris.
Outside those five exceptions the ban is citywide and applies regardless of intent to help or feed for enjoyment. 020(a) preserves the city's cumulative civil and nuisance-abatement remedies alongside any citation.
Violations & Fines
Feeding wildlife, or leaving accessible food or seed for it, without qualifying for one of Section 6.02.050(c)'s five exemptions is an infraction under Chapter 1.04, per Section 6.10.020(c). The city's remedies are cumulative under Section 6.10.020(a), so an animal control officer can pair a citation with civil or nuisance-abatement action, and repeated violations remain infractions since this section is not among the two provisions the code allows to be charged as a misdemeanor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it illegal to feed deer or geese in Sunnyvale?
Can I still use a backyard bird feeder in Sunnyvale?
Can I feed an injured wild animal I find until help arrives?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Sunnyvale
California rules heatmap·Compare Sunnyvale to another location·View the California animal ordinances overview
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Wildlife Feeding in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Santa Clara County handle wildlife feeding.