Migratory birds have protection under federal law.

By Jeff Burbrink
Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County

Jeff Burbrink
Extension Educator, Purdue University Elkhart County

GOSHEN  — From the 1860 to early 1900s, hunting for recreation was a huge pastime in the U.S. Trainloads of people would travel to the midwest and western states to shoot bison, birds, deer, gophers and many other animals recreationally, often leaving the carcasses to rot where they were shot.

It is shocking to note that in 1860, an estimated 60 million bison roamed the plains. By 1889, the numbers were down to 150 in the lower 48. In 1871-72 alone, 8.5 million bison were shot, which an estimated 3 to 5 of these animals killed for every one that made it to the market.

Passenger pigeons were not that lucky. They were at one point believed to be the most abundant birds on earth as recently as the 1850s. One migratory flight was estimated at 250 miles long and filled the sky for hours at a time, estimated at 2 billion birds. One study found an average of 90 nests per tree in a roosting site 3 miles by 40 miles in area. Passenger pigeons had a reputation of raiding grain fields, and farmers shot them in large numbers, and ate the meat, which was said to be tasty. Many others came in to pleasure hunt and destroyed the nesting sites before the young could fly. By the 1890s, there were no more passenger pigeons in the wild. The last bird died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.

The complete loss of a species, and the near loss of an American symbol, the American Bison, took the public by surprise. Almost immediately, Congress enabled legislation to protect many species. The most comprehensive law was the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which set the tone for the laws governing wildlife to this date.

MBTA made it unlawful to “take, possess, transport, barter, or offer for sale any migratory bird, or the parts, nests or eggs of such birds.” The word “take” includes pursue, shoot, shoot at, poison, wound, kill, capture, trap or collect. There are a few exceptions to MBTA. Authorities can create hunting seasons for birds that are consistently becoming a nuisance. Special permits can be issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under conditions when birds are creating damage to property. Special depredation permits can be issued for birds causing damage to crops. And MBTA does make it legal to scare, herd, flush or haze nuisance birds providing you do not cause nest abandonment.

There are several species of birds that do not fall under the protection of MBTA: house sparrows, rock doves (the common pigeon to most of us), and the European starling. Each of these three species are not native to the U.S. and can be taken at any time assuming no other laws are violated, such as shooting a firearm in areas where that is not permitted.

The most common bird I receive calls about is the Canada Goose. Next I will write about this bird, and how you can legally manage them.