Are Birds of Prey Protected? Laws, Permits, and Penalties

Yes, birds of prey are protected in the United States, and the protection is layered and strict. Every native raptor—eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, vultures, kites, and ospreys—is covered by at least one federal law, and most fall under two or three overlapping statutes. Killing, capturing, selling, possessing, or even meaningfully disturbing one can bring federal fines that reach six figures and prison time, unless you hold a permit that authorizes what you’re doing.

The Federal Laws That Cover Raptors

Three federal statutes do most of the work.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is the broadest. It makes it illegal to kill, capture, sell, trade, or transport any of the 1,106 migratory bird species on the protected list, and that list includes virtually every North American raptor.¹² Protection extends to live birds, dead birds, feathers, eggs, nests, and any product made from them.

Bald and golden eagles get an extra layer through the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, which forbids killing, capturing, possessing, selling, purchasing, or transporting either species—alive or dead—along with their parts, nests, or eggs, unless you hold a federal permit.³

A smaller set of raptors also carries Endangered Species Act protection, which imposes stricter rules against harming listed species and destroying their critical habitat. ESA-listed U.S. raptors include the California condor (endangered), the Northern spotted owl (threatened), the Mexican spotted owl (threatened), the Everglade snail kite (endangered), and the Northern aplomado falcon (endangered).⁴ The bald eagle was delisted from the ESA in 2007 but still has full protection under the other two laws.

States add another layer. State wildlife codes and endangered-species lists can go further than federal law, listing raptors that aren’t federally listed and imposing stricter penalties or seasonal buffer zones around nests. State law can be more protective than federal law, but never less.⁵

What “Protected” Actually Prohibits

The reach of these laws surprises most people. You do not need to kill a raptor to violate them. Possessing a hawk feather you picked up off the ground is a violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act if you don’t have authorization. So is keeping an abandoned nest, a shed talon, or an eggshell fragment.

For eagles, the definition of “take” under the BGEPA is broader still. Taking includes pursuing, shooting, wounding, capturing, trapping, collecting, or disturbing an eagle. Disturbance has its own definition: if your activity agitates an eagle enough to cause injury, reduce its breeding productivity, or trigger nest abandonment, you’ve broken the law.³ Loud construction near a nesting site or repeated drone flights over an eagle nest can qualify as a federal violation even if no bird is physically touched.

One area of ongoing legal uncertainty involves incidental take: birds accidentally killed by otherwise lawful activities like construction, power-line operation, or wind-energy generation. The Fish and Wildlife Service has stated that the MBTA does prohibit incidental take, but federal appeals courts are split on the question, and no formal MBTA incidental-take permitting program (outside of eagles) has been finalized.⁶ Where you live in the country partly determines your exposure.

Penalties

The financial and criminal consequences are steeper than most people expect, and they scale with the statute violated and whether the act was intentional.

Under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act

A standard MBTA violation is a federal misdemeanor: up to $15,000 in fines and up to six months in prison. Knowingly killing or capturing a migratory bird with intent to sell or barter is a felony carrying up to $2,000 in fines and up to two years in prison.⁷ The felony fine on the face of the statute looks lower than the misdemeanor fine because the two provisions were written at different times, and the federal Alternative Fines Act can push the actual fine much higher.

Under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act

The BGEPA sets a first-offense criminal fine at up to $5,000 and up to one year in prison.³ Because a first BGEPA offense qualifies as a Class A federal misdemeanor, the Alternative Fines Act raises the effective maximum to $100,000 for individuals and $200,000 for organizations.⁸ A second or subsequent conviction carries up to $10,000 under the statute and up to two years in prison. Each individual eagle taken counts as a separate violation.

On top of the criminal side, the government can assess civil fines of up to $5,000 per violation with no criminal conviction required. The statute also pays informants: half of any criminal fine, up to $2,500, goes to the person whose tip led to the conviction.³

ESA violations carry their own separate penalty structure, and projects that could harm a listed species trigger federal consultation requirements that can halt or reshape development plans.

When Working With a Raptor Is Legal

Not every interaction is illegal. The Fish and Wildlife Service administers more than 20 permit types that authorize specific activities under controlled conditions.⁹ Common categories for raptors include scientific collecting, education (zoos, nature centers, licensed educators), wildlife rehabilitation, and falconry. Each permit comes with reporting requirements, facility inspections, species restrictions, and possession limits, and operating outside those conditions is itself a violation.

Falconry is the main path for a private individual to legally handle raptors, and it works as a tiered progression—Apprentice, General, and Master—with age minimums, sponsorship rules, and species limits at each level. No level ever permits flying a bald eagle, and only a Master Falconer may fly a golden eagle.¹⁰ State wildlife agencies issue the actual permits and often add exams and fees.

Development activity has its own pathway. Construction projects, wind farms, and similar activities that risk disturbing or accidentally killing an eagle require an eagle incidental take permit from the Fish and Wildlife Service before work begins. General permits cover a defined list of lower-risk activities near bald eagle nests, while specific permits handle higher-risk situations, projects involving golden eagles, and anything that could cause the complete loss of a breeding territory.¹¹

Eagle Feathers for Native American Religious Use

Federal law creates a specific pathway for enrolled members of federally recognized tribes to obtain eagle feathers and parts. The National Eagle Repository in Commerce City, Colorado, collects dead eagles from around the country and distributes whole birds, wings, tails, talons, and loose feathers to qualified tribal members at no cost. Demand vastly exceeds supply; as of early 2026, the wait for a whole adult golden eagle stretched back to orders placed in December 2017.¹²

Under a 2012 Department of Justice policy, enrolled tribal members do not need a permit to possess, carry, or travel domestically with eagle feathers, or to pick up naturally shed feathers found on the ground without disturbing the bird. They can give, loan, or exchange eagle parts with other enrolled tribal members without compensation. Tribal-member craftspeople can be paid for their labor in fashioning feathers into ceremonial objects, though the feathers themselves cannot be sold. The exception does not currently extend to Native Hawaiians or to members of tribes without federal recognition.¹³

If You Find an Injured or Dead Raptor

You do not need a permit to pick up a sick or injured raptor and drive it to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. Federal regulations specifically allow any person to temporarily possess and transport a migratory bird for the sole purpose of getting it to a permitted rehabilitator as quickly as possible.¹⁴ You cannot keep the bird, treat it yourself, or hold it longer than needed to hand it off.

A dead eagle is different. Contact a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service law enforcement officer in your region first. If you can’t reach one within 24 hours, document the remains, store them somewhere cool, and follow the Service’s transfer procedures, which typically route the bird to either the USGS National Wildlife Health Center or the National Eagle Repository. If the eagle is on tribal lands or Alaska Native village lands, do not touch or move it until you have spoken with a Service law enforcement officer.¹⁵

Reporting Someone Who Is Harming a Raptor

If you see someone killing, trapping, or selling a raptor, report it to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement. Tips that lead to successful investigations may qualify for a monetary reward.¹⁶ For eagle-specific violations, the BGEPA itself directs half the criminal fine, up to $2,500, to the informant whose information led to the conviction.³ When you file the report, ask the receiving agent whether a reward is available in your case.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 USC 703 – Taking, Killing, or Possessing Migratory Birds Unlawful
2
Federal Register. General Provisions; Revised List of Migratory Birds
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 USC 668 – Bald and Golden Eagles
4
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Listed Animals
5
eCFR. 50 CFR Part 20 – Migratory Bird Hunting
6
Federal Register. Migratory Bird Permits; Authorizing the Incidental Take of Migratory Birds
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 USC 707 – Violations and Penalties; Forfeitures
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3571 – Sentence of Fine
9
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Permit Types and Forms
10
eCFR. 50 CFR 21.82 – Falconry Standards and Falconry Permitting
11
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Eagle Incidental Disturbance and Nest Take Permits
12
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. National Eagle Repository
13
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Eagle Parts for Native American Religious Purposes
14
Federal Register. Migratory Bird Permits; Regulations Governing Rehabilitation Activities and Permit Exceptions
15
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Eagle Handling and Distribution Handbook
16
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Speaking Up for Wildlife: How To Report Wildlife Crime