Structure owners are all too familiar with this scenario, a contractor calls and says “We’re on site but there’s a nest on the tower. What do we do?” Rosenberg et al. (2019) documented an increase of 15 million birds of prey since 1970, and that increase has combined with increased education and awareness in the telecommunications industry has led to increased reporting of nests on towers. Nesting adult birds can be potentially dangerous to tower workers, and there are laws that protect most native species of birds from being harmed or their nesting and brooding chicks from similar harm (e.g. killing, injury, or actions that cause nest failure or nest abandonment) and there are even some laws that protect nests and the birds from disturbance.
The objectives of this paper are to:
- Identify how tower work can continue with a bird nest present or in the vicinity of the structure
- Provide baseline understanding of terms and background
- Illustrate common issues with bird nesting on towers and give best practices
- Introduce resources for telecommunications professionals to find solutions for more complex situations
