The Pennsylvania "Scalp Act" (1885) established a 50-cent bounty on all birds of prey.
The 1913 Weeks-McLean Law was a national law that prohibited people from hunting migratory birds during the spring when most birds nest and raise their young. The Weeks-McLean law also prohibited the import of wild bird feathers for use in women's fashion.
The 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act, or MBTA, is passed. This is a national U.S. law protecting a wide variety of listed native migratory birds from human activities. The MBTA has periodically expanded and reduced both the number of birds protected under the law and the scope of the law's protections. Specific hunted migratory birds, such as ducks, geese, and some cranes, are not protected under the MBTA, and initially neither were hawks, falcons, or eagles (many of which do not migrate beyond our borders).
In 1929, a five-dollar bounty was placed on Goshawks by Pennsylvania Game & Fish in an effort to protect game species that were sometimes preyed upon by Goshawks. $5 in 1929 is comparable to $98 today in inflation-adjusted dollars.
In 1933, Pennsylvania’s legislature officially repealed some hawk and owl bounties, but the bounty on Goshawks lasted until 1951. Full statewide protection for all Pennsylvania hawks did not come until 1969, and Great Horned Owls remained legally unprotected until 1972.
In 1940, Congress passed the Bald Eagle Protection Act. This act was expanded to include the golden eagle in 1962.
In 1972 all hawks, falcons, eagles, owls, and corvids across the US were finally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
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