Preventing Migratory Bird Nesting in Residential Neighborhoods
The
City of Carrollton continues gearing up for this year’s egret nesting
season. With such a mild winter, we anticipate early arrival of scout
migratory birds. In preparation for this nesting season our Animal
Services team has provided training to some 250 members of our city
staff, which is about 1/3 of our entire workforce. These employees
represent our field staff in Code Enforcement, Environmental Quality,
Parks, Police, Public Works, Water Quality and Utility Customer
Service. Each of these crews are now prepared to assist with
identifying migratory birds and following our protocol for reporting
this activity. In addition to providing training to our field staff we
have also had the opportunity to take workshops to several homeowner
associations in areas that may also be affected by migratory birds.
These partnerships will serve as our front line in the early detection
of roosting and nest building activity.
Animal Services’ Deterrent Measures
Reported sightings will trigger the following responses:
1.A report of migratory bird activity is shared with our Animal Services team.
2.Animal
Services staff will conduct an inspection of the reported areas to
deploy deterrent measures and/or educate
affected residents regarding
the need for their immediate participation in deterring activity on
their property.
a.Measures
will include any combination of pyrotechnics (screamers), propane
cannons, laser lights and air horns, in combination with visual
deterrents, noisemakers and water jets that residents deploy.
b.Message
boards and ground signs will be placed to inform affected residents of
our bird deterrent activity in their neighborhood.
c.Education
for those residents experiencing regular activity will include the
issuance of a “starter kit” of deterrent materials and instruction from
Animal Services on best use of these materials.
3.Animal
Services will work with our residents and trained city staff to track
migratory bird activity and make adjustments
as necessary to increase
our opportunity for success.
a.Deterrent equipment will be shifted as necessary to keep migratory birds on the move.
b.City staff will be in frequent communication with state and federal agencies to track progress.
4.As
a final resort the approved method of lethal removal will be deployed
to further discourage nesting activity of
hard-to-move birds.
a.Lethal
measures are our absolute last resort and require documentation that
all other non-lethal alternatives have been exhausted.
b.Our
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Depredation Permit sets a maximum of 25
cattle egrets that may be taken throughout our community over the
course of 2012. This is roughly one percent of the birds that were
present last year.
5.Although
success in moving these birds to a more desirable nesting habitat is
our end goal, it is important to
note that each of these efforts are
intended to support your activity to protect your personal property from
nesting migratory birds. This means our success depends on your
participation!
Our
application for the U.S. FWS Depredation Permit was also reviewed and
approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS). Although deploying lethal control measures
to remove birds is our very last resort, it may be a necessary step to
prevent concentrated nesting. This is certainly not an approach we take
lightly and one we will only consider after careful consultation with
field representatives from APHIS. We want to assure our community that
conservation remains a priority in Carrollton and it is only the
potential threat to the quality of life of our residents that would
result in such actions.
The
permit requires that lethal removal cease as soon as nesting begins.
The APHIS representative has cautioned us that, given the concentration
of nesting last year, relocation of all cattle egrets is
unlikely in 2012 – that some pockets of nesting may remain in the city.
We are committed to using the approved deterrents to the maximum extent
allowed and believe that this will be adequate to prevent a recurrence
of last year’s experience.
We
do welcome your suggestions. A number of good ideas have come out of
the various resident workshops over the last few months. It has been
suggested that Carrollton deploy firefighters to use high pressure hoses
to blast nesting materials out of trees prior to completion of nests.
Review of this approach with the Fire Chief yielded the conclusion that
this is not an appropriate deployment of public emergency response
equipment and personnel.
Thank
you again for your interest in helping to preventing these challenges
in Carrollton. We are hopeful that your interest will continue in the
coming months and that you now have the information needed for a
positive outcome next spring.
Here is how you can help:
·Start looking now for migratory birds
·To review birds of interest, please visit our website by clicking here
·Ensure
that your trees are trimmed to allow sunlight to shine through; it may
also be helpful to create a separation
between tree canopies
·Remove ALL old nesting material
·Team up with your neighbors when hiring a tree trimming service and ask for discount rates for group service
·Be a good neighbor and help those who may have special needs
·Report migratory bird activity to our team in Animal Services by calling 972-466-3420 (press 3 to speak to an attendant)
The
summer of 2011 was very difficult for residents where there was
concentrated nesting. We hope to serve as your partner in preventing
the problems faced last year.
Please feel free to forward this email to your neighbors or have them contact us to be added to this group.
Migratory Bird Problem
