Company fined for cutting tree with nesting nuthatches, killing chicks
A tree-pruning company has been fined after it cut branches off a tree at a Kerrisdale apartment building in the spring, disrupting a nest of red-breasted nuthatches and killing at least three chicks.
Environment Canada announced the fine this week after months of investigation into the violation that was reported by a 12-year-old bird-lover who had been visiting the birds every day.
Clay Zhou-Radies was shocked when during one of his visits in May he found the nest and the nuthatches and a couple of northern flickers gone.
He reported the incident to Environment Canada, and officers investigated under the Migratory Birds Convention Act.
“During the course of this inspection, carcasses of migratory bird chicks (nuthatches) were collected by officers,” spokeswoman Veronica Petro said in an email.
She said Environment Canada doesn't reveal the identity of those issued violation notices or the amount of the fine.
The “alleged offence” contravened Section 5 of the act, which states that it's a violation to “unlawfully possess a migratory bird,” she said. The fine is listed as $200 and $50 for each additional bird.
The tree was pruned because it was a safety hazard to pedestrians and it was urgent because a large branch had been blown off in a storm, said Marinela Podoaba, property manager of the Kerrisdale building.
“We didn't know there was a nest there,” she said in May. “I'm so sorry for the little one.”
Podoaba said she hired a professional tree-trimming company, but declined to provide the firm's name when reached by phone Tuesday. “They didn't say anything to me (about nests),” she said.
On Tuesday, she referred questions to a manager at the Belmont Properties head office. A voice message wasn't returned.
Tree pruning should never be done during nesting season, usually March through June and even into August for some larger birds, because disturbing breeding birds is against the law, said a birder.
“They (tree cutters) should know this,” said George Clulow, past-president of the B.C. Field Ornithologists. “It is a matter of due diligence on the part of the company or person cutting down the tree.”
The migratory birds act lists higher “administrative monetary penalties” for individuals or corporations that cause “serious compliance issues” and environmental harm, such as disrupting an animal's habitat or killing wildlife. The fines start at $200 for an individual for less serious violations to a maximum of $5,000. For corporations, the fines run from $1,000 to a maximum of $25,000. Environment Canada has in the past identified violators and listed fines under the act, designed to conserve birds and their habitat.
In 2011, a property management company and a firm it hired were fined $2,500 each, and the property manager fined $750, for destroying swallow nests and disturbing eggs after removing the nests from several buildings in a residential community in Collingwood, Ont.
And in August 2020, a Newfoundland hunter was issued a $5,000 fine in provincial court after he was found with a razorbill, a migratory non-game bird off-limits to hunters.
The fines go into Environment Canada's environmental damages fund to help restore the environment.
There have been 78 investigations under the act in B.C. and Yukon since 2015, compared with 88 in Ontario, 215 in Quebec, 184 in the Prairies and the northern region, and 113 in the Atlantic region, over the same time period.