Migratory birds descend on Maxwell

The Colusa County Sheriff's Department receives a report of shots fired near the Maxwell post office.

Then another report comes in.

No, Maxwell has not suddenly become an urban war zone. The residents' battle is with nature.

Specifically, Maxwell has become the latest "rookery" for migratory birds such as egrets and black-crowned heron that find the nearby rice fields ideal hunting grounds, and the town's many tree canopies perfect nesting locations.

In return for its hospitality, the birds leave Maxwell with sidewalks and shrubs covered in droppings, a near daily collection of dead chicks that have fallen from nests, constant squawking and an unbearable smell.

"I am all for removing the birds," said Elsie Brown, who has lived in the same home at Oak and Pacific streets since 1937.

"It's the mess and the smell, and the flies," Brown said.

For the last two years she has played hostess to about a dozen birds that have made the large tree canopies in front of her house their home for the summer.

And there isn't anything she can do about it — at least right now.

Once the birds have nested, they are protected by federal law.

Some residents have gone to the extreme of removing the trees from their property, others have pruned them back so far they no longer provide shade.

"I know one person who this spring cut their trees way back," Brown said, "but I'm not sure I want to cut my trees way back."

The birds just move on to different trees.

Other residents have taken to firing water into the trees to prevent the birds from settling down, Fire Chief Dave Wells said, but they learned quickly how serious the federal agencies are about protecting the birds.

Someone in town apparently informed the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service about using the hoses, and almost immediately, game officials were out to make sure there was no evidence of nesting and issued clear threats of the penalties if nesting birds are disturbed.

Wells said the frustration level is definitely growing.

Which might explain why someone has taken to firing off bird shot into the trees.

"At first, we thought they were firecrackers," said Wells.

But on at least one occasion, firefighters reported hearing the bird shot rain down on the station roof.

Some residents have been told that if the situation becomes a health issue, then they might be able to remove the birds — even when nesting.

But so far, no agency has been willing to offer any specifics.

"Basically the health department would make that call, either the county or the state health departments," said Jim Shuler, North District supervisor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Service. He works out of McArthur.

"Then you would have to find a way to remove them and get approval from the Fish & Wildlife Service; approval or coordinate with them," Shuler said.

Maxwell is actually in the Sacramento District, but the supervisor there recently retired and the office is not staffed at this time.

Shuler referred any additional questions to the media relations office of his agency, or to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which would be in charge of managing the bird population.

Larry Hawkins, a spokesman for USDA Wildlife Service, said to what extent the birds could be removed depends on what kind of protection under which they would be classified.

"In some cases, (they could) do nothing at all," Hawkins said.

In this case, birds are protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.

Hawkins said there are provisions in the health and safety codes about situations in which wildlife threaten humans, whether that be bears, coyotes, mountain lions — and he presumes — health issues resulting from birds.

But that is up to the managing agency, in this case, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

A call to the migratory bird permitting office was not returned Tuesday.