Wem gehören eigentlich die Vögel?

Who are the birds?

To do this, you need to distinguish from the specific species:

(1) Is it a species of bird that is counted as wild according to the federal hunting law? The following shall apply:

Wild (see §2 BJagdG) is free of heart by definition. So it doesn’t belong to anyone (in the sense that no one is responsible for it when the animals cause any damage).

But not everyone is allowed to seize wild. This is only reserved for hunters.

If you’re taking wild, you’re doing the hunt. If you have no permission to do this (no hunting certificate and/or no hunting permit at the appropriate place), you will commit wildery, a criminal offence (§292 Criminal Code).

(2) It’s not a game in the sense of the federal law? Then the animal welfare law applies.

That means you can’t just take the animals, because you’re against it §1 of the Animal Protection Act insane.

It says:

No one shall cause pain, suffering or damage to an animal without reasonable reason.

But you would if you just caught a wild animal. It suffers in captivity. Thus: Also prohibited.