Migration is pretty much over now, and all birds are where they want to be if they’re sitting on eggs in a nest, or raising a clutch of nestlings. It might give us an opportunity to have a peep into their nest boxes and niches and see them raise their babies (mostly by web-cam — something we all love!), but it doesn’t mean the dangers they face are completely over. There are still things to watch out for in the city…
Tree Felling During Nesting Season
Every spring, members of my local birding club notice incidents of tree cutting and felling in and around Montreal during this period, when birds are nesting. Even trained ornithologists have difficulty locating nests, so we’re concerned that these activities may harm or even be fatal. People need to proactively protect nesting birds, and not assume anything.
Perhaps making matters worse is that while tree felling is an activity a homeowner needs a permit for, the permit process might not take into account the time of the felling – and the businesses that fell trees, like landscaping services, don’t need to have a license from the Régie du Bâtiment du Québec. We can’t know whether having a license would necessarily help birds, but it’s at least one reliable avenue for educating contractors.
What can you do if you witness tree felling during nesting season in your neighbourhood? One or all of the following:
- Take photos. Note the place, date and time of the event, and any other pertinent information. Send an e-mail to ec.priseaccessoire-incidentaltake.ec@canada.ca. If there is a concern,
they might investigate. - Send an e-mail to your municipality AND to the contractor (take note of the company) that is cutting the tree, so they both have an official reminder of the law against interfering with birds of migration (Reducing risk to migratory birds). You can include the link in the e-mail, which provides the information we all need in order to ensure that all industry meets their obligations under the law. Make sure that both are cc’ed because… just saying… a lot of contractors do not care about your complaint, and if they respond at all, they could be belligerent about it. You want to keep the discourse civil. That also implies, too, that you emphasize to the facts you observed and not throw unwarranted assumptions into the notification or complaint. While people can be ignorantly focussed on the bottom
- Ask your municipality to verify the permits to the work.
Lastly, perhaps it’s time to address this at the municipal level, and change a few things regarding bird safety in Montreal.
Safe Wings Ottawa (like FLAP in Toronto) held a petition to change building guidelines (Petition · City of Ottawa: Prevent Thousands of Bird Fatalities: Join the Call for Bird Friendly Guidelines in Ottawa · Change.org). It worked: Ottawa’s
The article doesn’t mention felling of trees, but the fact is, if changes are made to by-laws, one might as well cover all bases while it’s being talked about – and ask that tree pruning and felling take precautions and appropriate timing for nesting birds.
New regulations about building glass will apply first and foremost to new development. From the article on bird-friendly guidelines: “An individual home may only be killing a handful of birds a year, but there are so many homes out there that those numbers really add up quickly.” If you’ve noticed any window-crashes, contact me to
…Montreal’s Annual Bird Fest!
Nature Expert is Montreal’s main birding store, selling everything a birder could possibly be interested in. Alain, the store owner, sponsors many door prizes for birding group events. They’ve organized BirdFest every year for the past 5 that I’m aware of (note: I’m not aware of everything!) and because it’s been a while, I’m looking forward to going.
I’ll be there more in a citizen capacity (likely between 1 and 3 pm), but I hope to ask questions of the general public about what they do for birds and biodiversity, and also ask specific questions of expert birders. One question is what should average people look out for, and what they should avoid doing, if they want to see (or happen to see) birds nesting in public parks?
If you have a perspective on this question, please tell us (other readers as well as me) in the comments below!
One tip I can offer right now is that birds will, at some cost, try to defend their nests:
Birdist Rule #28: Know When Birds Think You’re Too Close to Their Nests | Audubon
I’ve posed this question to Le Nichoir. It’s the heaviest two weeks right now of Bird Crash, Bird Nap, and Cat Orphaning Season (three big reasons for rehabilitation of wild birds). They’ll be at BirdFest next weekend, too.
“If you see a bird nesting, simply leave it alone. If something really seems amiss, please call us at (450) 458-2809 before you do anything. Sometimes birds will nest in really odd places and we don’t know exactly why they chose that spot. Perhaps a high-traffic area is a good place to stay away from predators, for example. So if you’re uncertain, call, but otherwise, just let them do their parenting.”
Joanna from Le Nichoir
If you want to read all about birds that have been found in various predicaments and rehabilitated, read Le Nichoir’s newsletter. It’s a high-quality PDF with a lot of research — figurative and literal science — that went into it.
Now back to the event. The link is to the Facebook event so you can RSVP if you’re going:
Nature Expert’s Bird Fest
Saturday June 16th 2018
9:30 am to 5:00 PM
Location: Nature Expert, 5120 rue de Bellechasse, Montreal
Information: 514-351-5496 or 1-855-647-3289
Google Map to Location:
https://goo.gl/maps/wNMP1zpdBN22
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