QUESTION: Can I perform the mitzvah of shiluach haken by clapping my hands to scare away the mother bird?

ANSWER: The sefer Kan Tzipor (p. 28) cites the Satmar Rebbe who argued that one can accomplish the mitzvah of shiluach haken in any way that one causes the mother bird to fly away. This would include clapping hands. Of course, one would need to do this with the intent of fulfilling the mitzvah. If one did not know that there was a mother bird sitting on her nest until after it flew away, one has not fulfilled the mitzvah. Rav Sternbuch (Teshuvos V’hanhagos 3:329) questions whether the mitzvah can be accomplished without directly touching the bird or shaking the nest which indirectly moves the bird. He writes that if you clap your hands, you are scaring off the mother but not sending her away. If the nest is in a tree and the mother will fly away before you can get close enough, you should take a pole and knock the nest which will cause the mother to fly away. Then you can climb the tree and retrieve the eggs.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.