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A new showdown between bird lovers and building owners may be brewing. Apparently the Shelburne Hotel in Murray Hill is taking down some vines that are supposedly eroding the building. But the Post reports that neighbors are concerned because American songbirds nest in the vine.
Alberto Acosta said that when workers started to take down the vine (see this picture at the Post), "The birds were in a panic. They were screeching. My children started crying, saying 'They're killing the baby birds!' "
It's against the law to destroy American songbirds nest, but the hotel says no nests have been found and that they will contact the Audubon Society if they find nay. The Audubon's NYC chapter executive director Glenn Phillips says, "I strongly encouraged them not to disturb the vine below the third floor."
Birds and buildings sometimes have an uneasy co-existence - remember red-tailed hawks Pale Male and Lola's ordeal? The NYC Audubon has a hawk cam trained on a red tail hawks' nest in Queens, too.
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From the Post:
"He said the vine is full of nests, and some may belong to American songbirds, a protected species."
Technically, American songbirds are not "a protected species," because there is no species called the American songbird. Songbirds as a group are indeed protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, and includes pretty much every bird in the U.S. except House Sparrows. You can't own, sell, or destroy any part of the bird, nest, or egg without a permit. One exception: You can collect, own, and sell owl pellets (the hair and bones they barf up after eating).
Odds are pretty good the vines housed a variety of nests that would fall under the Treaty, but it's rarely enforced in these situations. I used to have a place in Brooklyn with a tiny patio; the surrounding walls were vine-covered and did indeed have many different birds nesting in them, including cardinals, mockingbirds, blue jays, and house finches. It was nice to have that in the city.