Dozens Of Migratory Birds Rescued From Nest Destruction In Texas

CYPRESS, TX — The Houston SPCA Wildlife Center of Texas rescued dozens of migratory birds that were found trapped and injured in trash bags in Cypress on Friday.

The birds, which included great blue herons and great egrets, were injured when a tree service company was clearing a lot for home construction on Cherrywood Bend Drive in the Towne Lake neighborhood, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

The agency received a complaint from a neighbor regarding the lot, and officials found 138 birds, many in closed trash bags awaiting to be picked up by trash collection, lead investigator and Texas Game Warden Jamie Hill told Patch.

It's nesting season for both migratory bird species, which accounts for the high number of birds in the area. The birds affected by the destruction of the nests were in multiple stages of their life cycles, including broken eggs, hatchlings and fledglings as well as adults, Hill said.

The birds suffered many injuries, including broken wings, mangled legs and internal injuries, and 67 were dead when Texas Parks and Wildlife found them.

Houston SPCA took in 71 birds, but 17 had to later be euthanized, according to Hill.

"They were instrumental in saving as many birds as we did," Hill said. "They went outside the scope of their normal job and made it happen."

Both the landowner and the tree service company will be facing criminal charges, Hill said. She did not reveal the names of the people involved in the investigation as the charges are still being processed.

A violation of the protection of non-game birds subsection of the Parks and Wildlife Code of the Texas Statutes is a Class C misdemeanor. This includes both killing or injuring birds and disturbing their eggs or nests. The birds also are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

While Hill sympathizes with landowners who want to remove trees and nests of migratory birds for land use or housing, she added that nesting season isn't year-round and there is a legal and appropriate way to deal with the problem.

"Just because you have a tree on your property doesn't mean you can cut it down if it has nesting birds," she said.

The nesting season for various species of herons and egrets typically lasts from mid-February to late October. Urban rookeries, or nesting sites, can become a nuisance, but once established, cannot be removed until the nesting season is over, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Attempts to harass or scare the birds away from an undesirable location are legal until the first egg is hatched. In the winter months, efforts such as thinning tree canopies and removing dead wood, undergrowth and old nests can be made to prevent the birds from returning to the location. Noisemakers, airhorns and even noise from pots and pans can be effective deterrents for birds in the early stages of nesting season, when they are nervous, the agency said.

Texas Parks and Wildlife also assists cities and municipalities in dealing with urban rookeries through its Urban Wildlife Program, which provides help in education, city and regional planning, natural resource management, data collection and research.