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<br />4.1.3 Migratory Bird Treaty Act
<br />Raptors are migratory bird species protected by international treaty under the Migratory Bird
<br />Treaty Act (MBTA) of 1918 (16 U.S.C. 703-711). The MBTA makes it unlawful to take,
<br />possess, buy, sell, purchase, or barter any migratory bird listed in 50 CFR. Part 10, including
<br />feathers or other parts, nests, eggs, or products, except as allowed by implementing regulations
<br />(50 CFR 21). Sections 3503, 3503.5, and 3800 of the California Fish and Game Code prohibit
<br />the take, possession, or destruction of birds, their nests or eggs. Implementation of the take
<br />provisions requires that Property-related disturbance at active nesting territories be reduced or
<br />eliminated during critical phases of the nesting cycle (generally February 1 – September 1,
<br />annually). Disturbance that causes nest abandonment and/or loss of reproductive effort (e.g.,
<br />killing or abandonment of eggs or young) or the loss of habitat upon which the birds depend, is
<br />considered “taking” and is potentially punishable by fines and/or imprisonment. Such taking
<br />would also violate federal law protecting migratory birds (e.g., MBTA).
<br />4.1.4 Federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act
<br />In addition to protection under the MBTA, both the bald eagle and the golden eagle are also
<br />protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act of 1940 (16 U.S.C. 668-668c). The Bald
<br />and Golden Eagle Protection Act, and amended several times since being enacted in 1940,
<br />prohibits anyone, without a permit issued by the Secretary of the Interior, from “taking” bald or
<br />golden eagles, including their parts, nests, or eggs (USFWS 2007). The Act provides criminal
<br />penalties for persons who “take, possess, sell, purchase, barter, offer to sell, purchase or barter,
<br />transport, export or import, at any time or any manner, any bald eagle ... [or any golden eagle],
<br />alive or dead, or any part, nest, or egg thereof.” The Act defines “take” as “pursue, shoot, shoot
<br />at, poison, wound, kill, capture, trap, collect, molest or disturb” (USFWS 2007).
<br />For purposes of these guidelines, “disturb” means: “to agitate or bother a bald or golden eagle to
<br />a degree that causes, or is likely to cause, based on the best scientific information available, 1)
<br />injury to an eagle, 2) a decrease in its productivity, by substantially interfering with normal
<br />breeding, feeding, or sheltering behavior, or 3) nest abandonment, by substantially interfering
<br />with normal breeding, feeding, or sheltering behavior” (USFWS 2007).
<br />In addition to immediate impacts, this definition also covers impacts that result from human-
<br />induced alterations initiated around a previously used nest site during a time when eagles are not
<br />present, if, upon the eagle’s return, such alterations agitate or bother an eagle to a degree that
<br />interferes with or interrupts normal breeding, feeding, or sheltering habits, and causes injury,
<br />death or nest abandonment (USFWS 2007).
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