Dead heron won't be removed from tree near Stanley Park tennis courts

The Vancouver Park Board has no plans to remove a dead heron hanging in a tree next the Stanley Park tennis courts.

Spectators at a weekend tennis tournament expressed concern that the carcass, which was likely from the Great Blue Heron colony in trees next to the tennis court at the southeast entrance to the park, should be removed.

But park board chair Korina Houghton said staff recommended that the dead bird, which is suspended in the branches about four metres above the ground, be left in the tree until it falls out on its own.

"The reason essentially for that is we have actually developed a fairly comprehensive management plan for this colony with the co-operation of the Ministry of Environment and the Canadian Wildlife Service," said Houghton on Monday morning.

This season, there were an estimated 150 nests in the colony with an estimated  two to five chicks in each nest. The Stanley Park Colony began a comeback in 2004 after several years in decline.

"To go up and remove it would be considered an unusual disturbance, and that could cause the entire colony to spook off and leave, and that could seriously compromise the survival of the fledglings," said Houghton.

Wildlife experts say the bird does not pose a safety risk, because it does not weigh enough to hurt anyone if it fell out, said Houghton.

"There isn't a lot of mass to the bird and if it did fall to the ground … we would just pick it up."

In fact, about 40 bird carcasses have already fallen out of the colony's trees this year, in keeping with a normal survival rate for the young birds in a heron colony, said Houghton.

If the dead bird is still in the tree after the young birds have fledged and the colony has left for the summer, likely by the end of the month, staff might then move in and clean it up, said Houghton.

Great Blue Herons are tall thin birds with broad wings and greyish-blue plumage, and feed by wading in shallow water and catching fish and other animals in their long bills. They nest in colonies of up to 1,000 birds throughout North and Central America.