Jul 12, 2016 11:03 PM by Darren Leeds
An arborist inspecting dead trees in Oroville's Riverbend Park made a startling discovery, the trees are home to protected species.
Right now the trees and a small section of Riverbend Park are closed off until park staff figures out how to move the rare birds belonging to the "Acorn Woodpecker and Bushtit" bird families.
The staff at the Feather River Park District got a bit of a surprise Monday when they had an arborist inspect dead trees that were going to be removed.
Teague says, "That's when we were informed that we were hosting protected species like Acorn Woodpeckers in the trees."
Now the park is taking the correct steps to make sure the birds' home remains protected.
Teague says, "We authorized three staff members to go to a wildlife awareness certification class to learn about how to detect nesting species and how to become more familiar with the regulations as far as the protections with the state and federal laws."
Riverbend staff has put up a fence and signs to inform the public. The birds will remain in the park until the end of their nesting season, when staff can develop a plan to find them a new home.
Teague says, "We're really proud to set an example for other parks that could be hosting protected species in their parks and some of the things they can do other than destroying the nests."
Teague says many species remain hidden during their nesting season and habitats often get destroyed and go unnoticed. She says she wants the birds to become an asset to the park and have people appreciate them.
