What do you do with baby birds?

playfordtree

The other day i took down a Washingtonia, the head was full of pigeons(and pigeon crap).
After it had hit the ground i found 4 baby pigeons who were too young to fly away. (i dont know how they survived the 12metre fall to be honest)

Now while i think of pigeons as being "rats with feathers" it's not the birds fault that i destroyed their home.

Obviously the little guys are pretty much doomed, as the parents wont come back, and there was nowhere else to put them.
I dont have the heart to just wring their necks, so i took them to the Animal Welfare League.
As they are not a native species the AWL euthanaise them humanely.
This is still not a very nice option, but better than leaving them under a bush for a cat or ants to get.
(My previous employer would throw them straight through the chipper)

What do you guys do?

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treeseer

depends on the bird. with pigeons i might say here kitty!

last week i put a nest of baby squirrels into another hollow in the same tree. they are invasive but not exotic,

don't be too quick to judge that the parents will not come back.

blair duncanson

Taking them to animal wellfare league sounds like the best option there. Most of time they will humanely dispatch them but this depends on type and age of bird. Some folk may have even taken them home and tried to hand rear them, unlikely they will survive but perhaps may alleviate any guilt. In Scotland when doing work for big landowners there is a close season on tree felling because of nesting birds, unless site meeting with tree inspection proves there to be no working nests.Inspection required also if tree is suspected to be a summer roost for bats, ie rotten cavities etc.
Chipper option seems pretty instant and a tad barbaric, you can also squeeze either side of the breast bone to stop the heart. Depending on circumstances you may want to start your own menagerie.!
Would be good to see any other suggestions.

Eric Frei

Well, we've had it happen a lot.

It's those top notch pidgeons usually ... but the adults are never far watching.

We have relocated the nest to another tree/place and observed the parents. Usually the parents are onto it and go to the new location.

If the customer is home we tell them to observe and if the parents dont feed or visit to take them to the AWL/RSPCA/WildLifeRescue people.

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newguy18

Every nest i've found was empty while i was pruning or removing trees,i'd probabley take them to an animal sancutary if i came across them.Playford your seriuos about what yuor old boss would do with them?

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old schooler

playfordtree

Deadly serious, it made my stomach turn.

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KidInTree

usually swing over to a nerby tree and put the nest in it if nothing nearby in a bush or something.

ScottWojo

Here the english Sparrow and the Blue bird compete for the same nests. The English Sparrow nests about three weeks earlier than the blue bird. Sometimes the sparrow will actually build a nest right on top of a live nest of blue birds.

So the natural bird is the Blue Bird. and I build blue bird houses. The Blue Bird is getting difficult to find around here. I have built up the population in my area.

If I find a nest of sparrow eggs in a blue bird house...I will wait till night and try to capture the momma bird. Once captured I will Kill it and the eggs on the spot.

If I found a nest of blue birds in a natural hole in a tree. I would leave the tree untill nesting has finished. The momma birds will try to attack you as you approach the nest. So it will be clearly evident to you before you cut it down. If it is unavoidable, I would relocate the nest to a blue bird box and observe to ensure that the parents are keen to it.

If you touch a baby bird it will not die, thats old wives tales. If the bird is rare or protected go above and beyond. If the bird is unnatural to the environment KILL KILL KILL it.

Scott.

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playfordtree

What happens if it's a Vegan cat?

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Jeff Darby

This is a hard one Playford,If there a pest..mmm..such as Indian minors, who are wiping out our parots,I'm inclined to neck them! But they are innocent babies so I will put the nest into a nearby tree from there on it's up to nature.

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TreeDimensional

A rat is a rat, young OR old.

Therrin

Little bit of flour....

Little salt n pepper....

*licks lips*

playfordtree

Mmmmm........... pigeon pie. droooool

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arbdog

Its against the law to remove a tree with nesting birds here in the u.k. But if you wanna get paid we work on the tree. Ive sat there and said sorry to the poor little things just before ive cut the branch (pigeons mainly). I know its not nice but it happens! Bloke i used to work with cobbed them in the chipper, cruel to be kind sort of thing! A nesting bird has just cost a construction firm a million pounds as it nested on a site and delayed the job and they had to holt work till it finished. some american bird but i dont know what sort.

arbdog

And I didnt vote in the poll because I leave it to the ground staff to sort out. but it would have to be the nasty one if any. (and thats not me).

newguy18

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old schooler

newguy18

I'll try anything[food wise]once.

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blair duncanson

Appreciate what your saying, about getting payed and all. Have on occasions charged clients for time spent up until nesting birds are found. They normally seem very understanding and appreciate the sympathetic, proffesional approach. If they don't understand, tell them to f off and charge them anyway!

RandyMac

In the woods we usually didn't know if there was a nest until the tree was down. Mostly, we didn't care, rarely did anything survive the trip. When we did run afoul of Murlett nests, the Hooktender had a shovel for that. On one occasion, we left a tree that had a visible Crane's nest in it.

blair duncanson

In mind that most birds are only fledgling for three to four weeks. Do you not have any regulations on nesting birds in the forests you work. What kind of trees do you work on normally?

RandyMac

I used to log old growth in northern California, Doug Fir and Redwoods, kinda hard to spot a nest that high up. Yes, there are regs to protect wildlife, if you are in one of the zones or happen to spot something before the tree is cut. No-one went out of their way to kill birds.

RandyMac

arbdog

I didnt mean I go out to work to purpously kill birds! We have been removing trees and stumbled upon nests that were not visable from the ground. And its the people i been working for that tell me to cut the branch! We waited nearly a year to remove a old willow tree after a woodpecker or owl were suspected of livning in it! Dont want anybody reporting me to the r.s.p.b !

blair duncanson

Redwoods, now they are big. Would love a shot of dropping one of them. Do you sectional fell them or just as a whole tree? What kind of heigh and girtht is in them? How long does it take for one man to fell and log. Seen some pictures only, in book called Fundamentals of General Tree Work. No wonder you can't always spot nests.
Rock n' roll!!

blair duncanson

No worries i'm not in the habit of grassin' and really sounds like there is nothing to grass. As you say it is not always possible to locate nests prior to works. Having said that though, if my boss told me to drop a branch with living nest in it, i would refuse whether he liked it or not.

newguy18

the second vid in my sig is old growth logging.

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old schooler

blair duncanson

That logging is something else!! Would love to help out with work like that! Wonder what the timber gets used for? Cheers for that.

newguy18

Lumber products.

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old schooler

blair duncanson

Cheers again, realised that those vids of the Redwoods were compiled by the lad who wrote that book i was talking about. Is that just coincedence or what??

newguy18

heres a link to his website,
A Tree Story: books and videos by Gerald F Beranek.

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old schooler

blair duncanson

Wonder if the man offers apprenticeships?
Cheers again