Are Hawks Illegal to Kill? Federal Law and Penalties

Hawks are illegal to kill anywhere in the United States. Every hawk species in the country is protected by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which makes it a crime to kill, capture, or possess one, or even its feathers, without a federal permit. A first offense can bring a $15,000 fine and six months in jail. The law does not give property owners a self-defense exception for hawks attacking chickens or pets, but it does allow you to scare them off, and that is where most people find their answer.

The Federal Law That Protects Hawks

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, codified at 16 U.S.C. 703, is the statute that covers hawks.¹ It prohibits killing, capturing, selling, trading, or transporting any protected bird, along with its parts, nests, or eggs, without authorization from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.² Every hawk species found in North America falls under that protection.

There is no self-defense exception for property owners. Unlike state laws that let you shoot predatory mammals attacking livestock, the MBTA has no equivalent carve-out for hawks. A hawk carrying off your chicken is still a federally protected bird at the moment you pull the trigger.

State wildlife laws sit on top of the federal statute. A state can add stricter protections but cannot weaken the MBTA, and some states classify particular hawk species as endangered or threatened within their borders, which raises the penalties further.

Penalties for Killing a Hawk

A standard illegal kill, such as shooting a hawk raiding a henhouse, is a federal misdemeanor. The maximum penalty is a $15,000 fine, six months in jail, or both.³ Courts have discretion within that range, and first-time offenders without a commercial motive may see lighter sentences, but the full penalty is available for a single bird.

Felony charges apply when someone knowingly kills or takes a migratory bird with intent to sell or barter it. A felony conviction carries up to two years in prison.³ Under general federal sentencing provisions, individual fines for felonies can reach $250,000, and equipment used in the offense (firearms, traps, vehicles) can be seized and forfeited.

State charges can be filed for the same incident. Practical exposure is often higher than either set of penalties alone.

What You Can Legally Do When a Hawk Threatens Your Animals

Cooper’s hawks and red-tailed hawks regularly hunt backyard chickens, small ducks, and occasionally small pets. You cannot kill the hawk, but federal regulations do not require a permit to herd or frighten migratory birds off your property, so long as the species is not an eagle or listed as endangered.⁴

Non-lethal deterrents that work in practice:

Overhead netting or a fully covered run is the single most reliable method, because hawks cannot dive through a physical barrier. Even fishing line strung in a grid over an open run disrupts their attack approach.
Visual deterrents like reflective tape, old CDs on strings, and predator-eye balloons help in the short term, though hawks often habituate to stationary objects.
Noise devices such as air horns, propane cannons, and pyrotechnics are effective where local noise ordinances allow them.
Livestock guardian animals, including roosters, guard dogs, and geese, deter hawks by raising alarm and presenting a larger threat.
Habitat management matters too. Dense shrub cover near feeding areas gives chickens a place to flee, and removing tall perch trees near the coop reduces hawk hunting opportunities.

Peak hawk hunting hours are early morning and late afternoon. Adjusting when the flock is out, combined with overhead cover, solves the problem for most backyard keepers without going near the legal line.

Depredation Permits

If non-lethal methods genuinely fail, the only legal route to lethal removal is a depredation permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.⁵ For hawks these are rare and difficult to obtain.

The process starts with USDA Wildlife Services (866-487-3297), which will send a wildlife specialist to evaluate the damage, confirm the species responsible, and recommend long-term non-lethal solutions. You then complete a Form 37 Permit Review Form through Wildlife Services and submit it with your application to the Fish and Wildlife Service.⁴

The application must specify the species and number of birds you’re asking to take, and the methods you would use. The Fish and Wildlife Service authorizes lethal removal only as short-term relief alongside ongoing non-lethal measures; killing cannot be the primary strategy. The applicant must be the person experiencing the damage, responsible for complying with the permit, and able to implement non-lethal deterrents on the property.⁴

Accidental Kills

Hitting a hawk with a car or having one strike a window is technically covered by the MBTA, but in practice no one is prosecuted for that kind of accidental kill during a normal lawful activity. Deliberately creating conditions you know will kill hawks, such as poisoning, is treated very differently and can be prosecuted as an intentional violation.

Feathers, Talons, and Found Parts

The MBTA extends to every physical part of a protected bird. Feathers, bones, talons, nests, and eggs are illegal to possess without a permit, regardless of how you obtained them.¹ There is no exception for a naturally molted feather picked up on a hike. The statute was drafted this way on purpose, because a “found it” defense would gut the killing prohibition.

Enforcement is discretionary at the low end, and the Fish and Wildlife Service does not usually pursue someone who pockets a single feather. The violation still exists on paper. Enrolled members of federally recognized tribes may possess native bird feathers for cultural and religious use through specific federal channels.⁶

Injured Hawks

Federal regulations include a Good Samaritan provision that lets anyone pick up a sick, injured, or orphaned migratory bird and transport it immediately to a licensed veterinarian or federally permitted wildlife rehabilitator, no permit required.⁷ The word “immediately” carries weight. Keeping the bird at home to nurse it, even with good intentions, is a federal violation without a rehabilitation permit. Your state wildlife agency can point you to a permitted rehabilitator.

If you find a dead hawk, leave it where it is unless a wildlife officer tells you otherwise, because possessing a dead bird or its parts without a permit is itself an MBTA violation. Reporting the carcass to your state wildlife agency or USDA Wildlife Services helps biologists track disease and population health.

Watch for Eagles

Golden eagles and bald eagles carry a second layer of protection under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, with steeper penalties. A first offense can bring up to a $100,000 fine and one year in prison for an individual, and $200,000 for an organization.⁸ Golden eagles are commonly confused in the field with large hawks like ferruginous hawks or dark-morph red-tailed hawks. Misidentifying an eagle as a hawk and killing it exposes you to penalties under both statutes. If you are not sure what raptor you are looking at, the safest legal assumption is that you cannot touch it.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 US Code 703 – Taking, Killing, or Possessing Migratory Birds Unlawful
2
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 US Code 707 – Violations and Penalties
4
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Frequently Asked Questions About a Federal Depredation Permit
5
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Migratory Bird Permits
6
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. National Eagle Repository – What We Do
7
eCFR. 50 CFR Part 21 – Migratory Bird Permits
8
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act