Punishment set for man who killed northern hawk owl

BIRDING – A Colville Tribe member has been ordered to pay a $1,500 fine and devote 100 hours to building bird nesting boxes for killing a northern hawk owl that had been attracting scores of birders in January to a corner of the Indian reservation.

But the tribe has not confirmed that the sentence was carried out.

“The Tribes do not intend on issuing a release on this matter at this time,” Dana Cleveland, reservation supervisory attorney said last week.

Michael Marcellay, 61, of Brewster, faced a $5,000 citation for killing the owl, which is rarely seen in Washington and is protected by the federal Migratory Bird Act.

Tribal court Chief Judge Scot Stuart reduced the fine in an April settlement and sentenced Marcellay to 100 hours of community service constructing birdhouses for the tribal Fish & Wildlife Department, according to the Tribal Tribune.

“Stuart asked Marcellay to return May 16 with the fine paid and a plan in hand,” the paper reported, noting that the judge left the number of hours of service to be reassessed at that time.

No further updates have been made available.

Marcellay was ticketed for killing the northern hawk owl near his Cassimer Bar area homesite on Jan. 2, apparently because he was annoyed by the flocks of birdwatchers lured from several states and Canada by Internet postings.

Birdwatchers reported the bird was found dead and hanging in a tree. Tribal law also prohibits the killing of federally protected birds, according to a Feb. 9 press release from the office of Colville tribal chairman Jim Boyd.