Tree Surgery and Nesting Birds — What the Law Says and How We Work Around It

June 23, 2026

Every year, without fail, we receive calls in April or May from homeowners who need a tree dealt with urgently and are frustrated when we raise the subject of nesting birds. We understand the frustration. The tree is overhanging the extension, or the branches are scraping the roof, or the hedge needs cutting before it gets any more out of hand. The timing feels inconvenient.

But the law on this subject is clear, the penalties for breaching it are significant, and in our experience most situations are manageable with a bit of planning. This article explains exactly where the law sits, what it means for tree surgery in Cumbria, and how we work around the nesting season in practice.

What the Law Actually Says

Under Section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is an offence to intentionally kill, injure or take any wild bird, or to intentionally take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while that nest is in use or being built, or to take or destroy an egg of any wild bird.

There are a few important things to note about this legislation. It applies to all wild bird species without exception, not just rare or protected ones. A blackbird nest in a garden hedge has exactly the same legal protection as a peregrine falcon nest on a cliff face. The offence is one of intention, which means that carrying out tree work in a situation where a reasonable person would have checked for nests, without checking, can still constitute an offence if a nest is damaged as a result.

Penalties under the Wildlife and Countryside Act include unlimited fines and up to six months imprisonment. In practice, prosecutions of tree surgeons are relatively rare, but they do happen, and the reputational and financial consequences of being found to have damaged a nest during a commercial job are significant.

When is the Nesting Season in Cumbria?

The standard guidance from Natural England is that the main bird nesting season runs from the first of March to the thirty-first of August. However, this is a guideline rather than a legal boundary. Some species nest earlier. Crossbills, for instance, can nest in January and February. Mistle thrushes often begin in February. Tawny owls may be incubating eggs from January onwards. In a mild Cumbrian autumn, some robins will attempt a second or even third brood well into September.

The practical implication of this is that the legal obligation to check for nests does not switch off on the first of September and switch back on the first of March. It applies year-round. The March to August period is when risk is highest and when we are most likely to find active nests, but any tree work at any time of year should include a pre-work visual inspection.

How We Check for Nests Before Starting Work

Before beginning any tree surgery work during the risk period, we carry out a visual inspection of the tree and any adjacent vegetation. In most cases this is a thorough visual check from the ground and, where necessary, from an aerial position. What we are looking for includes:

Obvious nests visible in the canopy or in cavities
Birds entering and leaving the tree repeatedly, which indicates active use of a nest or cavity
Alarm calls from birds in or around the tree when approached
Signs of recent nest-building activity such as moss, feathers or vegetation being carried into the tree

If any of these indicators are present, work on that part of the tree is paused until we can establish whether an active nest is present. In many cases this means delaying the start of work, or restructuring the job to carry out work on parts of the tree away from the suspected nest while waiting for the nest to become inactive.

We document our nest checks on commercial jobs as a matter of course. For estate, local authority and housing association clients in particular, having a written record that a pre-work nest inspection was carried out is important.

What Happens if a Nest is Found Mid-Job

It does happen, even with thorough pre-work checks, that a nest is discovered after work has begun. Dense ivy, climbing plants, tight branch unions and cavities can all conceal nests that were not visible from the ground before work started. When this happens, the correct response is straightforward.

Work stops on that section of the tree immediately. We assess whether the nest is active, meaning whether it contains eggs or young. If it is active, work in the vicinity of the nest does not resume until the nest is no longer in use, meaning the eggs have hatched and the young have fledged. For most common garden bird species this is a period of three to six weeks from the point of discovery, depending on the stage of incubation or development when the nest was found.

We discuss this clearly with clients at the time. In most situations the job can be restructured to complete the sections away from the nest and return to complete the remainder once the nest is clear. Occasionally the job simply has to be paused and rescheduled. We would rather do that than risk an offence.

Bat Roosts in Trees

Bats are covered by separate and in some ways stronger legislation. All bat species in the UK are fully protected under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, which implements the European Habitats Directive. Unlike birds, bat roost protection applies year-round, not just during the breeding season. It is an offence to disturb, damage or destroy a bat roost even if no bats are present at the time.

Trees with potential bat roost features, which include cavities, loose or lifting bark, dense ivy growth, rot holes and tight branch unions, may require a bat survey before significant work can proceed. We identify potential roost features during our initial site assessment and advise clients on whether a survey is needed before booking a job in. In our experience, the Lake District and South Lakeland have a rich bat fauna, with several species regularly using trees across the region.

If a bat survey is required, this needs to be carried out by a licensed bat worker. We can point clients in the direction of ecologists who carry out this work across Cumbria.

Planning Your Tree Work Around the Nesting Season

The practical message here is simple. If you have significant tree surgery work you want done, the best windows are late autumn through to late February, before the main nesting season gets underway. Work planned for this period is almost always straightforward from a wildlife perspective.

Work that cannot wait until autumn, either because of safety concerns or practical necessity, can still go ahead during the nesting season with a proper pre-work nest check. The majority of tree surgery jobs we carry out between March and August proceed without any issue. Problems arise when nest checks are not carried out, not when they are.

If you have urgent work that needs doing and are concerned about the timing, call us and we will give you an honest view of the risk and how best to manage it.

Phone/WhatsApp: 07376804724
Email: enquiries@maxreynoldstreeservices.com

Back to blog