In Season 5, Episode 1 of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the following conversation takes place between Dennis and Charlie:
Dennis: I can absolutely keep a hummingbird as a pet, bro. It’s no different than having a parrot or a parakeet. It’s a bird, bro.
Charlie: You really can’t, and I’m not saying I agree with it. It’s just that bird law in this country—it’s not governed by reason.
Dennis: There’s no such thing as “bird law”.
Charlie: Yes, there is.
A male Anna’s Hummingbird. No, you cannot own it as a pet.
Is Bird Law Real?
This conversation has sparked endless debate about “bird law” on Internet forums, and whether or not it is real. I may not be a lawyer, but I am a biologist, and I’m here to set the record straight: yes, there is bird law, yes, it is governed by reason, and no, you cannot have a hummingbird (or any native migratory species) as a pet.
For over 100 years, a little-known but very important federal law called the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (the MBTA) has existed in the United States, and it has saved the lives of billions of birds. The MBTA states:
“Establishment of a Federal prohibition, unless permitted by regulations, to “pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture or kill, possess, offer for sale, sell, offer to purchase, purchase, deliver for shipment, ship, cause to be shipped, deliver for transportation, transport, cause to be transported, carry, or cause to be carried by any means whatever, receive for shipment, transportation or carriage, or export, at any time, or in any manner, any migratory bird, included in the terms of this Convention . . . for the protection of migratory birds . . . or any part, nest, or egg of any such bird.” (16 U.S.C. 703)”
You can read the law and see a list of all of the birds that are and are not included here.
What this law means is that it is a federal crime to possess, sell, buy, ship, kill, capture, or hunt ANY bird, including its body parts, eggs, nests, and feathers, that is native to North America (including Canada and Mexico). So believe it or not, it is actually illegal to possess wild bird feathers that you find in your yard!
This law includes all native birds – so crows, hawks, owls, falcons, mockingbirds, robins, woodpeckers, and yes, Dennis, hummingbirds – are all illegal to have.
So what birds are legal to have? Basically any bird that is a “domesticated” game/farm bird or a non-native/typically-kept-as-a-pet bird, like a parakeet or budgie, are legal to possess.
Commonly-kept, legal birds to possess include quail, chickens, turkeys, domesticated ducks and geese (such as Muscovies), Ring-necked Pheasants, budgies, lovebirds, etc. You can also have the feathers of these species. (However, endangered species are a different story – it is illegal to keep some endangered species, even if they aren’t native.)
It is perfectly legal to have chickens (left) and budgies (right), because they are non-native or game birds.
Historical Precedent for the MBTA
So why are birds protected? Why can’t you keep the feather that you found in your yard?
You cannot keep the feather because you cannot prove that you didn’t kill the bird to get it – and there is a lot of historical precedent to this decision. Before the MBTA was passed in 1918, people were killing birds for their feathers. Putting feathers on hats was very popular, and several species of birds went extinct for the sake of fashion.
By the late 1800s, the hunting, killing, and sale of wild birds was rampant. By 1890, almost 5 million birds were being killed every year for fashion alone, and by the end of the 19th century, it was even fashionable to put whole dead birds on hats.
Putting real feathers in hats, similar to these images, was very fashionable in the 19th century. This fashion trend led to the extinction of many bird species.
By the end of the 19th century, the Great Auk, Labrador Duck, and Heath Hen had all gone extinct due to unregulated killing. The Carolina Parakeet was last seen in the wild in 1910. The Passenger Pigeon, once the most abundant bird in North America, was a popular source of meat. The last wild Passenger Pigeon was shot in 1901.
A drawing of a Great Auk, which went extinct in the late 19th century due to unregulated hunting.
Great Egret feathers in particular were very popular in women’s fashion because of their long, white, elegant plumes, and so many Great Egrets were killed for their feathers that they were once endangered.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Egret feathers were worth twice their weight in gold. A single Egret feather cost $32, which is $850 in today’s money! But fortunately, the newly-formed Audubon Society and the MBTA came to the Great Egret’s rescue, and this species was saved and is very abundant today.
The Great Egret’s beautiful plumes were popular in hats, and made this species a popular target for hunting.
The Formation of the National Audubon Society and the passing of the MBTA
In 1896, Massachusetts socialites Harriet Lawrence Hemenway and Minna B Hall created the Massachusetts Audubon Society in an effort to end the killing of birds for their feathers. The Audubon Society is named after famous naturalist and painter John James Audubon, the author of Birds of America.
Audubon Societies started appearing all over the United States, and wealthy socialites (especially women) would agree to boycott the sale of bird feathers, especially the plumes of the Great Egret, and they would organize letter-writing campaigns. They succeeded in creating laws banning the sale of plumes in 12 states.
The Audubon Society was officially incorporated in 1905. Their work ending the plume trade in multiple states was noticed, and in 1918, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was passed by the federal government. As mentioned before, the MBTA makes it illegal to possess, sell, buy, ship, kill, capture, or hunt ANY native bird. It is one of the most successful pieces of environmental legislation ever written, and has saved the lives of billions of birds over its 103-year lifespan. It likely saved the Great Egret from extinction.
Over the years, numerous updates to the MBTA have been made. In the 1970s, prosecutions to big companies, including oil, timber, mining, gas, etc, who harm birds incidentally and not directly, were allowed, and by 1972, 1,026 species were protected.
So What Do I Do if I Find a Feather, or a Hurt Bird?
If you find a bird feather, or the body parts of any bird, you should simply take a picture of it and leave it where you found it. It is illegal to possess it unless you know that it came from a domesticated/non-native bird species.
If you find a hurt bird, you are required to take it to a licensed rehabilitation center. You can find more information about what to do with hurt animals at this Critterfacts article: How to Help a Hurt or Abandoned Baby Animal.
You may be wondering how the rehabilitation centers, zoos, falconers, and educators are allowed to “break” the MBTA by having wild birds. All of these people and organizations MUST apply for licenses with the Fish and Wildlife Service to have their birds and run their organizations.
There are special licenses for falconry, education, rehabilitation, and “possession” and “collection” permits for both live birds and their body parts. Sometimes, organizations have to have multiple permits for different aspects of their mission.
Organizations like zoos and rehab centers must apply for licenses before they can have most captive birds, like this Harris Hawk.
Also, you will notice that feathers are still used in fashion, to an extent, and you can also buy feathers for art online. If you pay attention to the feathers, you will notice that the feathers that you can purchase today are all from domesticated game birds.
Almost all of the feathers available for sale on today’s market are turkey, chicken, peacock, or guinea fowl feathers, or they are white goose feathers that have been dyed to look like other species.
Turkey feather (L) and peacock feathers (R) are commonly sold because they are both beautiful and legal to possess.
Where Does the MBTA Stand Now?
Unfortunately, in 2020, the Trump Administration passed a rule gutting the MBTA, and big companies can no longer be fined for “incidental” or “accidental” killings of birds, which has been the standard for the past 60 years. This will result in the deaths of millions of birds. In 2010, BP was fined $100 million for deaths of the birds caused by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. If the same disaster were to happen today, BP would not be fined a penny.
You can read more about this devastating environmental policy here on Audubon’s website. North America has seen a 30% decline in birds since 1970, with 3 billion fewer birds existing on the continent since 60 years ago. The Trump Administration’s policy will only exacerbate this downward trend in bird population.
However, there is hope. The Biden Administration has included the gutting of the MBTA in its list of 100 Trump Administration environmental policies to review and potentially overturn, and an executive order signed on Biden’s second day in office has included the MBTA for review. You can read an article about the hopeful reverse of this policy here.
But don’t stop there – please click here to see Audubon’s petitions urging the Biden Administration to take swift action, and help save America’s birds!
