(a) Species covered.
| Blackbirds | Cowbirds | Crows | Grackles | Magpies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brewer's (Euphagus cyanocephalus) | Bronzed (Molothrus aeneus) | American (Corvus brachyrhynchos) | Boat-tailed (Quiscalus major) | Black-billed (Pica hudsonia) |
| Red-winged (Agelaius phoeniceus) | Brown-headed (Molothrus ater) | Fish (Corvus ossifragus) | Common (Quiscalus quiscula) | |
| Yellow-headed (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) | Shiny (Molothrus bonariensis) | Northwestern (Corvus caurinus) | Great-tailed (Quiscalus mexicanus) | |
| Greater Antillean (Quiscalus niger) |
(b) Conditions under which control is allowed by private citizens. You do not need a Federal permit to control the species listed in paragraph (a) of this section in the following circumstances:
(1) Where they are causing serious injuries to agricultural or horticultural crops or to livestock feed;
(2) When they cause a health hazard or structural property damage;
(3) To protect a species recognized by the Federal Government as an endangered, threatened, or candidate species in any county in which it occurs, as shown in the Service's Environmental Conservation Online System (http://ecos.fws.gov);
(4) To protect a species recognized by the Federal Government as an endangered or threatened species in designated critical habitat for the species; or
(5) To protect a species recognized by a State or Tribe as endangered, threatened, candidate, or of special concern if the control takes place within that State or on the lands of that tribe, respectively.
(6) Each calendar year, you must attempt to control depredation by species listed under this depredation order using nonlethal methods before you may use lethal control. Nonlethal control methods can include such measures as netting and flagging, the use of trained raptors, propane cannons, and recordings.
(c) Conditions under which control is allowed by Federal, State, and Tribal employees. You do not need a Federal permit to control the species listed in paragraph (a) of this section in the following circumstances:
(1) Where they are causing serious injuries to agricultural or horticultural crops or to livestock feed;
(2) When they cause a health hazard or structural property damage; or
(3) To protect a species recognized by the Federal Government, a State, or a Tribe as an endangered, threatened, or candidate, species, or a species of special concern, including critical habitat for any listed species.
(4) Each calendar year, you must attempt to control depredation by species listed under this depredation order using nonlethal methods before you may use lethal control. Nonlethal control methods can include such measures as netting and flagging, the use of trained raptors, propane cannons, and recordings. However, this requirement does not apply to Federal, State, or Tribal employees conducting brown-headed cowbird trapping to protect a species recognized by the Federal Government, a State, or a Tribe as endangered, threatened, candidate, or of special concern.
(d) Ammunition. In most cases, if you use a firearm to kill migratory birds under the provisions of this section, you must use nontoxic shot or nontoxic bullets to do so. See § 20.21(j) of this chapter for a listing of approved nontoxic shot types. However, this prohibition does not apply if you use an air rifle or an air pistol for control of depredating birds.
(e) Access to control efforts. If you exercise any of the privileges granted by this section, you must allow any Federal, State, tribal, or territorial wildlife law enforcement officer unrestricted access at all reasonable times (including during actual operations) over the premises on which you are conducting the control. You must furnish the officer whatever information he or she may require about your control operations.
(f) Trapping conditions. You must comply with the following conditions if you attempt to trap any species under this order.
(1) You may possess, transport, and use a lure bird or birds of the species listed in paragraph (a) that you wish to trap.
(2) You must check each trap at least once every day it is deployed.
(3) At temperatures above 80 °Fahrenheit, the traps must provide shade for captured birds.
(4) Each trap must contain adequate food and water.
(5) You must promptly release all healthy nontarget birds that you capture.
(6) If a federally permitted wildlife rehabilitator is within 1 hour or less of your capture efforts, you must send injured or debilitated nontarget federally protected migratory birds to the rehabilitator. If no rehabilitator is closer than 1 hour away, you may euthanize an injured or debilitated bird of a nontarget species unless the species is federally listed as an endangered, threatened, or candidate species, in which case you must deliver it to a rehabilitator and report the take to the nearest U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Field Office or Special Agent.
(7) You must report captures of nontarget federally protected migratory birds in your annual report (see paragraph (i) of this section).
(g) Euthanasia. Captured birds and wounded or injured birds of the species listed in paragraph (a) may only be killed by carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide inhalation, or by cervical dislocation performed by well-trained personnel who are regularly monitored to ensure proficiency.
(h) Disposition of birds and parts. You may not sell, or offer to sell, any bird, or any part thereof, killed under this section, but you may possess, transport, and otherwise dispose of the bird or its parts, including transferring them to authorized research or educational institutions. If not transferred, the bird and its parts must either be burned, or buried at least 1 mile from the nesting area of any migratory bird species recognized by the Federal Government, the State, or a Tribe as an endangered or threatened species.
(i) Annual report. Any person, business, organization, or government official acting under this depredation order must provide an annual report using FWS Form 3-2436 to the appropriate Regional Migratory Bird Permit Office. The addresses for the Regional Migratory Bird Permit Offices are provided at 50 CFR 2.2, and are on the form. The report is due by January 31st of the following year and must include the information requested on the form.
(j) Compliance with other laws. You may trap and kill birds under this order only in a way that complies with all State, tribal, or territorial laws or regulations. You must have any State, tribal, or territorial permit required to conduct the activity.
(k) Information collection requirements. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the information collection requirements associated with this depredation order and assigned OMB Control Number 1018-0146. Federal agencies may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Direct comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of the information collection to the Service's Information Collection Clearance Officer at the address provided at 50 CFR 2.1(b).
[79 FR 65601, Nov. 5, 2014. Redesignated and amended at 87 FR 882, Jan. 7, 2022]