Tex. Parks & Wild. Code § 64.002 · Subchapter A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
PROTECTION OF NONGAME BIRDS.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(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.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
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.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PW/htm/PW.64.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 19f7bcd63f6e403005584bbe291de36d602679bd94ddcf82c108044ecb249a51
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.