Va. man fined for removing bird's nest

[Donna]

By Washington Post editors

The owner of a Fredericksburg, Va. tree service company has been fined $3,000 for unlawfully removing a hawk's nest containing three chicks from a tree.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Jerry Stein removed the red-shouldered hawk's nest from a tree he was attempting to cut down in Fredericksburg in May. A neighbor found the nest and called the Raptor Conservancy in northern Virginia to care for the chicks.

Two have since been released, while one subsequently died.

Stein entered a guilty plea Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Richmond. He was prosecuted under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which is intended to protect migratory birds, their nests and eggs.