(a) Except as otherwise provided in this code or regulations made pursuant thereto, it is unlawful to possess the carcass, skin, or parts of any nongame bird. The feathers, carcass, skin, or parts of any nongame bird possessed by any person in violation of any of the provisions of this code shall be seized by the department and delivered to a California Native American tribal government or a scientific or educational institution, used by the department, or destroyed.

(b) (1) It shall be an affirmative defense to a violation of this section if the possessor of feathers, carcass, skin, or parts of a nongame bird legally acquired the feathers, carcass, skin, or parts, possesses them for tribal, cultural, or spiritual purposes, and satisfies either of the following criteria:

(A) The possessor is an enrolled member of a federally recognized Native American tribe or nonfederally recognized California Native American tribe listed on the California Tribal Consultation List maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission who has, in his or her immediate possession, valid tribal identification or other irrefutable proof of current enrollment.

(B) The possessor has a certificate of degree of Indian blood issued by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs in his or her immediate possession.

(2) Nothing in this section allows any person to sell nongame bird feathers, carcasses, skins, or parts. Native Americans meeting the affirmative defense requirements may salvage dead nongame birds so long as the person salvaging these birds does not possess, nor is in the company of any person who possesses, a firearm, BB device as defined in Section 16250 of the Penal Code, trap, snare, net archery equipment, device capable of discharging a projectile, or any apparatus designed to take birds. Salvaging shall not take place by any person involved in the take of the nongame bird to be salvaged, any person present at the time of the take, or by any person who received related information originating from any person present at the time of the take of the nongame bird. Salvaging pursuant to this subdivision shall not take place if a bird has been struck with any thrown or discharged projectile, trapped, netted, caught, or snared.

(c) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), any officer deputized pursuant to this code may interrupt any ongoing salvaging of dead nongame carcasses, feathers, skins, or parts if, in the officer’s judgment, the activity causes a public disruption, safety hazard, or is detrimental to the ability of the department to prevent a possible violation of this section. The officer may seize any of the salvaged feathers, carcasses, skins, or parts and has the option of returning them to the general location from where they were salvaged.

(Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 178, Sec. 30. (SB 1115) Effective January 1, 2011. Operative January 1, 2012, by Sec. 107 of Ch. 178.)