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City of San Antonio contractors have been seen trying to dislodge migratory birds at Woodlawn Lake. The rookery is full of babies and eggs. Call these elected reps to stop it.
Greg Harman
The City of San Antonio’s war on migratory birds keeps expanding and getting uglier. Two weeks ago, City contractors were caught harassing birds in a rookery at Woodlawn Lake Park, apparently intent to force the birds to flee‚ in spite of the obvious dangers to numerous eggs and chicks. It’s just the latest turn in an ugly history in City harassment of migratory birds across the parks system in recent years.
Update: June 24, 2024: City workers at Woodlawn Lake told Deceleration today that that crews have been “experimenting” for the last few weeks to see how close they can get to the rookery with clapping boards, “bangers,” and “screamers,” to keep additional birds from joining the rookery without agitating the existing nesters so much that they flee the nests. We can’t confirm this of course, but for now crews seem to have backed up from their previous positions and one worker told us they are angling their explosives further away from the rookery, FWIW.
Wait. Aren’t migratory birds, like, protected or something?
One would hope. Since 1970, bird populations across the United States and Canada have crashed by 30 percent, somewhere around three billion bids. Normally, these birds would be safe, protected by both state and federal law, as well as international treaties like the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. But in “Bird City” San Antonio, city staff and contractors armed with a special permit to target snowy and cattle egrets and cormorants (though in practice they pretty much harass anything feathered unfortunate enough to stop over in certain City parks) use a range of tools and techniques to harass the birds.
When did all this start?
In 2019, the City of San Antonio destroyed a migratory bird rookery at Elmendorf Lake Park. They claimed at the time that the birds, seen feeding at a landfill to the southwest, were threatening U.S. Air Force flights at Kelly Field. What the City lacked in data (a handful of collisions logged involving cattle egrets out of hundreds of collisions, see below) they made up for in determination. Against strong community resistance to destroying this “little Aztlan” on the West Side, the City destroyed the decades-old rookery by hacking back the habitat and physically removing all of the nests. Most went into a dumpster. Some nests were relocated to Mitchell Lake Audubon Center on the South Side in hopes some birds may discover them and relocate there. They rotted uninhabited over the coming months, a staff member told Deceleration.
What happened after Bird Island?
Anti-bird activities at Brackenridge Park date back to at least 2018, when City crews started using chemical sprays atop an abandoned children’s play area (that was still very much in use by the public). After Elmendorf, however, the City came into Brakenridge Park to prepare for a long-delayed bond-funded redevelopment project troubled by growing numbers of roosting migratory birds in trees the City wanted to remove. (Some of these birds probably relocated there after getting the boot at Elmendorf, swelling the local population.) Over the last two years, with the support of Mayor Ron Nirenberg, the city thoroughly dispatched the rookery and continues to use pyrotechnics and other devices to chase out any wayward non-waddling birds (ducks are still mostly tolerated). COSA has been helped along by the San Antonio Zoo and the avian-orientated advocacy nonprofit Bexar Audubon Society, the local chapter of the National Audubon Society (whose mascot is the impacted great egret). After strenuously objecting to the attacks at Elmendorf, Audubon remained mostly quiet about the attacks at Brackenridge. Later they partnered with the San Antonio River Authority to put out public statements supporting the City’s position that the birds at Brackenridge pollute the headwaters of the San Antonio River and pose a public health risk.
Shouldn’t we trust the experts about the birds and health risks?
Maybe. Above is a (corrected) factsheet that the City distributed to justify the attack on Bird Island. The reality is that only four collisions with cattle egrets at Kelly Field were logged during nine years of study—that’s four (4) out of roughly 500 total wildlife strikes at the field during those years. Meanwhile, the City continues to warn that the rookeries bring risk of histoplasmosis exposure. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture writes that “Histoplasmosis is not commonly found in soils from heron/egret rookeries, but proper conditions for this fungal disease exist in these areas.” Meanwhile, water quality is impacted by a number of factors, including bird feces, obviously, but also other kinds of wildlife, lawn chemicals used at golf courses, waste from Zoo enclosures (in Brackenridge Park), and roadway runoff pollution. Deceleration believes the community should decide how wild migratory birds factor into our water management needs.
How does the City get the birds to relocate anyway?
The list of tools allowed the City to harass migratory birds are: “pyrotechnic[s], propane cannon[s]; firearms, mylar balloons, methyl anthranilate; drones, lasers, effigies, scare-man; nest/egg removal; trucks, dogs.” Deceleration has seen everything but firearms, dogs, and drones used during the razing of Bird Island and the Brackenridge rookery (though we have heard descriptions of shotgun blasts late at night from some witnesses but were unable to independently confirm their use).
Why does felony animal cruelty come to mind?
You may be thinking of the man who allegedly attacked and killed a Muscovy duck on the River Walk. In that case, the San Antonio Park Police Officers Association head really wanted to see a felony prosecution but was foiled by the DA’s read of the law. Seems it’s animal abuse when it’s outside the Rainforest Cafe. Just not when it’s City policy in our local forests.
So what’s happening now?
To the surprise of no one, the birds relocated again after being booted from Brackenridge. Some went north, trying to crowd into high-income ZIP Codes (to which MySA encouraged residents to “harass “make loud noises” at the birds to keep them from nesting; and while we love journalism, and many journalists, this story and its repeated use on social media is the precise moment we unfollowed MySA). Other birds apparently returned to Bird Island at Elmendorf Lake Park. In April of this year, dozens (possibly hundreds) of nesting birds were forcibly evicted with the help of Texas Wildlife Services. Deceleration watched many of these birds flee in the direction of Woodlawn Lake Park.
What can we do?
Over the last two weeks at Woodlawn, great egrets, snowy egrets, cattle egrets, little blue egrets, and cormorants have been busy nesting, caring for their eggs, and beginning to raise their young. However, contractors for the City of San Antonio (caught coming and going from an Alpha Building Corporation truck, an outfit with many parks-related contracts with the City) have been spotted harassing the birds with clapping boards. Many of the babies in those nests could die if this harassment is not stopped immediately. We urge residents to call on their elected reps to demand this attack be stopped. We also strongly urge a reassessment of what has become a de facto city policy of brutalizing these beloved species, many of whom have been making their homes and rearing their young here longer than there has been a San Antonio.
Contact
Mayor Ron Nirenberg
210-207-7107
Marina Alderete Gavito
Woodlawn Lake Park (D7)
210.207.0870
Sukh Kaur
Brackenridge & Woodlawn Parks (D1)
210-207-0900
Jalen McKee-Rodriguez
Brackenridge Park (D2)
210.207.0970
Teri Castillo
Elmendorf Lake Park (D5)
210.207.0962
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