Protected cranes are nesting in pine trees with possible disease carrying bird droppings covering drive way and street where neighborhood children play. I've called several local organizations only to be told there is nothing I can do since they are protected by law. These birds return every year and stay for about 4 months - each year gets worse with droppings and stench. Daily cleaning is required but that still does not keep the areas around them clean.
Give the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service a call I'm sure they will help in some way.
If the pine trees have been designated as a protected breeding site, you may well be SOL. The reason these critters are protected is that they have had their available breeding habitat swallowed up and plowed under by stupid humans who insist on putting their homes where they don't belong. Since their life depends on using that site, and your's doesn't, the birds take precedent. However, if the site itself is not protected, and only the birds during nesting season, then when the birds move away for the season, simply remove the pine trees - their habitat will be gone, but the birds will still be alive, and they can find new nesting ground. But since every crane species I know of builds their nests low to the ground or floating in marshland environments, I seriously doubt that whatever is nesting in your pine tree is actually a crane. Even the demoiselle crane of central Asia builds its nests low to the ground, but in desert scrub/plains rather than wetlands. So perhaps if you get the birds properly identified, you'll have better luck taking care of your problem.
I okorder and do an archive search for the story which will cost you a couple of dollars (Search terms: Turlock and egrets.) You might want to discuss with the Fish and Game Service regarding: Whether they're cattle egrets, and if so, are they actually migratory birds, or an invasive species...
