Yes, hawks are protected in California. Every hawk species in the state is covered by both the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act and California’s own wildlife laws, which together make it illegal to kill, trap, possess, or disturb a hawk, its nest, its eggs, or even a single feather without a permit. Violations can bring thousands of dollars in fines and jail time, and you can be charged under state and federal law for the same act.
The protection applies regardless of whether a particular hawk actually migrates. A Red-tailed Hawk that lives in the same canyon year-round is covered the same as one that crosses state lines each fall, because the classification follows the species, not the individual bird.1U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 19182eCFR. 50 CFR 10.13 – List of Birds Protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act California adds its own layer through Fish and Game Code sections 3503, 3503.5, 3513, and 3800, which protect birds of prey, their nests, and their eggs independently of federal law.3California Legislative Information. California Code FGC 35034California Department of Fish and Wildlife. California Outdoors Q&A – Conflict Wildlife5Justia Law. California Fish and Game Code 3800-3806 The Swainson’s Hawk gets extra protection as a state-listed threatened species, which raises the penalties for any violation involving that bird.6California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Raptors of California
What Counts As Harming a Hawk
California defines “take” broadly. It covers hunting, pursuing, catching, capturing, and killing, along with any attempt to do those things. You don’t have to succeed. Chasing a hawk with a net or setting a trap near its perch is a violation even if the bird flies off unharmed.
Possession is just as tightly controlled. Feathers, talons, bones, an eggshell you picked up in the yard — none of them are legal to keep without a permit, even when the hawk died naturally. The reasoning is practical: if people could freely collect parts from dead hawks, there would be no way for enforcement officers to tell those pieces apart from parts taken by killing a bird.
Disturbing an active nest counts too, and you don’t have to touch it. Sustained loud noise near a nest tree, repeated close approaches, or cutting the branches that support the nest can all qualify if the activity causes the breeding pair to abandon eggs or chicks.
When a Hawk Is Killing Your Chickens
This is where most people get into legal trouble. A Cooper’s Hawk picking off backyard poultry is maddening, but shooting, trapping, or poisoning it is a federal and state crime no matter the circumstances. There is no self-defense-of-livestock exception for hawks.
What you can do, without any permit, is scare the hawk away. Federal rules explicitly allow hazing migratory birds with noise, visual deterrents, and habitat changes.7U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 3-200-13 Migratory Bird – Depredation Practical measures include:
- Overhead netting or wire grids across chicken runs
- Reflective tape or hanging CDs around the coop
- Motion-activated sprinklers or sound devices
- Keeping poultry in enclosed runs during daylight rather than free-ranging
If non-lethal methods fail and losses continue, you can apply for a federal Migratory Bird Depredation Permit through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The application requires proof you’ve already tried non-lethal measures: receipts for scare devices, photos of protective structures, records of how long you used them. The USDA Wildlife Services office also reviews the situation, sometimes with a site visit. The permit costs $50 for individuals, lasts one year, and comes with an annual reporting requirement. The approval bar is high, and most applicants find that physical barriers solve the problem before a permit comes through.
Hawk Nests on Your Property
A hawk nest on your house, in a backyard tree, or on another structure is protected as long as it’s active, meaning it contains eggs or chicks or is being used for breeding. You cannot remove, relocate, or destroy an active nest without both federal and state permits.
Once a nest is clearly inactive, federal law generally does not require a permit to remove it, provided you destroy it rather than keep it.7U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 3-200-13 Migratory Bird – Depredation California’s Fish and Game Code Section 3503.5 doesn’t draw the same explicit active-versus-inactive line for raptors, though, so the safe move is to contact the California Department of Fish and Wildlife before touching any hawk nest. Hawks often reuse the same nest for years, and a nest that looks abandoned in winter may be back in service by spring.
If You Find an Injured, Dead, or Fallen Hawk
Federal regulations let anyone pick up a sick, injured, or orphaned hawk without a permit for one purpose only: to transport it immediately to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator or veterinarian.8eCFR. 50 CFR 21.76 – Rehabilitation Permits You cannot keep the bird at home, hold it overnight to see if it recovers, or try to treat it yourself. Your legal role is careful transport, nothing else.
If you find a dead hawk, leave it where it is. Collecting a carcass or any part of it, even roadkill, is illegal without a federal salvage permit. Wildlife agencies also use undisturbed carcasses to investigate poisoning and shooting cases. If the bird looks like it was killed deliberately, call CalTIP at 1-888-334-2258.
Rat Poison and Secondary Hawk Deaths
A less obvious way people kill hawks is through rodenticide. A hawk that eats a poisoned rat ingests the toxin secondhand, and second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides build up in the food chain. One poisoned rat may not deliver a lethal dose, but a hawk that eats several over a few weeks can bleed to death internally.
Assembly Bill 1788, effective January 1, 2021, banned four second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides — brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum, and difethialone — for most residential, industrial, and institutional use in California.9California Department of Pesticide Regulation. New Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticide Prohibitions and Allowed Uses Narrow exemptions exist for vector control, water infrastructure protection, and certain agricultural operations, but homeowners cannot legally use these products. The EPA already prohibits consumer products containing second-generation anticoagulants and has proposed labeling requirements that would require collecting rodent carcasses after baiting.10US EPA. EPA Proposes New Mitigation Measures for Rodenticides Using a banned rodenticide that kills a hawk can expose you to liability under both pesticide and wildlife laws at the same time.
Penalties if You’re Caught
You can be prosecuted under state and federal law for the same conduct.
Under California law, most raptor-protection violations are misdemeanors. For species listed as endangered, threatened, or fully protected — the Swainson’s Hawk among them — the maximum is a $5,000 fine, up to one year in county jail, or both. Taking a bird to strip it for feathers or talons and discarding the rest carries a minimum fine of $250 for a first offense and $500 plus at least 30 days in jail for later offenses.
Under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, a standard misdemeanor carries up to a $15,000 fine, up to six months in jail, or both. Knowingly taking a hawk with intent to sell, or actually selling or bartering a hawk or its parts, is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison, and general federal sentencing provisions allow felony fines reaching $250,000 for individuals.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 USC 707 – Violations and Penalties Equipment used in the offense can be seized.
Eagles are not hawks, but they share the sky with them. Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles fall under the separate Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, with first-offense fines up to $5,000 and later offenses reaching $10,000 and up to two years in prison. If you can’t reliably tell a large hawk from a juvenile eagle at a distance, that’s one more reason not to shoot at either.
The Narrow Ways To Legally Possess a Hawk
A few exceptions exist, and all of them require permits from both state and federal agencies.
Falconry is the most familiar. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife issues falconry licenses to applicants who pass an exam, pass a facility inspection, and hold a valid California hunting license. The license itself runs about $110, with additional fees for the application, exam, and inspection. Apprentices can start at age 12, though an apprentice may only use a falconry raptor for educational purposes under the supervision of a General or Master falconer.12California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Falconry License
Educational institutions and researchers can apply for federal Special Purpose Possession permits to keep hawks for public programs or scientific work, with substantial experience requirements and ongoing program obligations. Wildlife rehabilitators holding both federal and California state permits can take in injured hawks with the goal of release.
Reporting Someone Who Harms a Hawk
California runs CalTIP (Californians Turn In Poachers and Polluters) for wildlife crime reports. The 24-hour toll-free hotline is 1-888-334-2258. You can also text “CALTIP” followed by your tip to 847411, or use the smartphone app for anonymous two-way contact with wildlife officers. Information leading to an arrest can qualify you for a reward, with grants of up to $3,500 issued in the past, funded by donations rather than state money.13California Department of Fish and Wildlife. CalTIP – Californians Turn in Poachers and Polluters