Sec. 64.002. PROTECTION OF NONGAME BIRDS. (a) Except as provided by this code, no person may:
(1) catch, kill, injure, pursue, or possess, dead or alive, or purchase, sell, expose for sale, transport, ship, or receive or deliver for transportation, a bird that is not a game bird;
(2) possess any part of the plumage, skin, or body of a bird that is not a game bird; or
(3) disturb or destroy the eggs, nest, or young of a bird that is not a game bird.
(b) European starlings, English sparrows, and feral rock doves (Columba livia) may be killed at any time in any manner and their nests or eggs may be destroyed, and such conduct does not constitute an offense under Chapter 42, Penal Code.
(c) A permit is not required to control yellow-headed, red-winged, rusty, or Brewer's blackbirds or all grackles, cowbirds, crows, or magpies when found committing or about to commit depredations on ornamental or shade trees, agricultural crops, livestock, or wildlife, or when concentrated in numbers and in a manner that constitutes a health hazard or other nuisance.
(d) Canaries, parrots, and other exotic nongame birds may be sold, purchased, and kept as domestic pets.
Acts 1975, 64th Leg., p. 1405, ch. 545, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1975. Amended by Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 202, ch. 95, Sec. 2, eff. April 30, 1981; Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 267, art. 3, Sec. 110, eff. Sept. 1, 1985; Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 610, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1987; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1256, Sec. 92, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
Amended by:
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 952 (H.B. 3391), Sec. 13, eff. September 1, 2009.
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