Berks officials take action to remove vultures
It falls into the category of too strange to be true.
The Berks County commissioners on Thursday adopted an agreement with the federal Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspections Service for the safe removal of black vultures from the farmhouse located at the county's youth recreation fields in Bern Township.
Commissioners Chairman Christian Leinbach said he learned at the county parks and recreation board meeting Wednesday that the third floor of the farmhouse has been taken over by some homeless black vultures. The vultures have laid eggs there and appear unlikely to move on anytime soon.
Vultures are protected by both state and federal law because they play a pivotal role in the balance of the ecosystem as nature's cleanup crew.
These scavenging birds are essential for maintaining environmental health and preventing the spread of diseases. The primary legal protection stems from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. This act makes it illegal to take, kill or possess vultures, their nest, or their eggs without a permit.
According to records of the local Baird Ornithological Club, two species of vultures nest in Berks County— black and turkey vultures.
Black vultures are a relatively recent addition to Berks bird life. The first sighting of a black vulture occurred in the Hay Creek Valley in 1952. The first nesting record was in 1985 among some boulders in District Township.
Both vulture species have been known to nest in abandoned buildings, according to the Baird club.
The Berks County commissioners have an agreement with the federal Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspections Service for the safe removal of vultures from the farmhouse at the county's youth recreation fields in Bern Township. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Leinbach said the black vultures were discovered by a crew who are in the process of demolishing the farmhouse.
'The demolition had to stop in order to get this permission, and then there is a process whereby they will be removed humanely and safely to some other location,' he said.
(Bill Uhrich contributed to this report.)
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