4 Charged in Destruction of Hawks’ Nest

City prosecutors Friday filed criminal misdemeanor charges against a Woodland Hills couple and operators of a tree-trimming service for allegedly destroying the nest of protected red-tailed hawks while pruning a large tree in the couple’s backyard.

The defendants in the case are homeowners Robert and Nicole Davis, along with Bruce Howard, owner of Top Notch Tree Service of Rowland Heights, and Steve O’Hara, foreman of the Top Notch crew that destroyed the nest on March 21, deputy Los Angeles City Atty. Don Cocek said.

All four defendants are charged with violating the state Fish and Game code, which prohibits destroying the nest of any bird of prey, Cocek said. All birds of prey have official protected status in the state of California, he added.

The Davises could not be reached, and Howard declined comment late Friday. If found guilty, the defendants each face up to six months in jail, a $1,000 fine or both. Arraignment is scheduled for June 24 in Van Nuys Municipal Court. Cocek said he was not certain whether the homeowners and the tree-trimming service would be penalized equally if found guilty.

“In terms of responsibility, they are all held liable under the law,” Cocek said. “This case is unusual because a party has contracted another party to do something against state code.”

The charges stem from a California Department of Fish and Game investigation of complaints from one of the Davises’ neighbors. The neighbors told Fish and Game officials that they had warned the Davises and Top Notch Tree Service more than a month before the trimming that it was illegal to destroy the nest.

“We have reports that the neighbors found out that [the defendants] were going to do the tree-cutting and told them, ‘Hey, what you’re doing was against the law,’ ” Cocek said.

Prosecutors have obtained photographs that the neighbors took of the tree before and after the trimming, he said.

“Before, the pictures show the nest being there,” Cocek said.’And after, the whole top of the tree is gone. Where the nest used to be just isn’t there anymore.”

Based on consultation with a Fish and Game raptor expert, Cocek said the photos of the nest indicated that the hawks were ready to lay eggs, but that it was too early in the mating season for there to have been eggs in the nest when it was destroyed.

“From what I understand, it was probably too late in the mating season for the hawks to establish a new nest, so they will have to wait until next year to lay eggs,” Cocek said.

State Fish and Game spokesman Patrick Moore said it is against the law to destroy the nest of any bird when there are young in it. And birds of prey “have special protection, so their nests can’t be destroyed at any time,” he said. “Their numbers have been depleted over the years, so they are more precious to us.”

Moore said the destruction of nests happens occasionally, but most people are either aware of the law or check with agencies like Fish and Game before trimming trees or hosing down nests. “Wildlife has to be protected,” he said. “We have to allow them to raise their young.”