What law protects raptors in the United States?

The correct answer is the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. This law is significant as it provides extensive protections for migratory birds, including raptors, which are birds of prey such as eagles, hawks, and owls. Under this act, it is unlawful to hunt, capture, kill, or sell migratory birds, their nests, or their eggs without a waiver. This legislation was created to prevent the overhunting and decline of bird populations and emphasizes the importance of conserving migratory bird species and their habitats.

The other laws mentioned do have their own protective measures, but they either focus on broader categories of wildlife or are more recent and do not specifically address raptors. For instance, the Endangered Species Act of 1973 primarily targets species at risk of extinction and their habitats, while the Bird Conservation Act of 2001 aims to sustain and restore populations of birds but is not as comprehensive in its focus on migratory birds as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The Wildlife Protection Act of 1985 is less recognized in relation to birds specifically and does not offer the same level of direct protection to raptors as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act does.