Rabbi Natan Slifkin, the Zoo Rabbi, wrote the following response to my posed question at the end - "I am still unsatisfied with the treatment of the eggs or babies, if they are not returned to the tree. Do you have a good answer?" (My emphasis added to his comments)
In response to Rabbi Billet's question on Shiluah HaKein:
According to most Rishonim (Rambam, Rashbam, Chizkuni, Ramban, Ralbag, Rabbeinu Bachya ben Asher), the mitzvah of shiluach hakein is indeed about compassion. They explain away the Mishnah's statement that "One who says'Your mercy is demonstrated through the treatment of the mother bird' is tobe silenced" as meaning that God did not command this mitzvah out of His mercy upon the bird, but rather to teach us mercy; or, that this Mishnah follows an alternate viewpoint. The rationale behind the mitzvah is as follows: In earlier times, when food was not as plentiful as it is today, most people would seize the opportunity for a free meal. Eggs would be a delicious treat, and some people might even want to eat the chicks. The Torah commands us to restrain our desires; it forbids us from taking the mother too, and even when taking the eggs or young, we must send away the mother bird to spare her the distress of seeing her young being taken. But if one has no desire for the eggs or young (as would be the case today), there is no mitzvah to take them; one simply leaves them all alone.
Rambam agrees that not everyone will be tempted to eat chicks, and sees this as part of the idea: "He also forbade slaughtering an animal and its young on the same day, to take care to avoid slaughtering the young before its mother's eyes, for the distress caused thereby to animals is great... This is also the reason for sending away the mother bird from the nest, for the eggs on which the mother nests and the fledglings that need their mother are not generally fit for food; and when a person sends off the mother and she goes away, she will not be distressed at seeing her young taken. And since that which would be taken in most instances is not fit to be eaten, for the most part there will be reason to leave everything." (Guide for thePerplexed III:48)
An entirely different perspective was presented in with the Zohar, which states that the mitzvah functions to cause the mother bird distress, causing her angel in Heaven to protest to God, Who wonders why nobody is protesting on behalf of the Jewish People in exile, and as a result decides to have compassion on them. According to this approach, the mitzvah is about causing pain to the mother bird rather than minimizing it. Furthermore, following this approach, one should send away the mother bird even if one has no desire for the young. While some attempt to reconcile the Zohar with the aforementioned Rishonim, the truth is that they reflect fundamentally different approaches to Torah as a whole and this mitzvah in particular. I have just finished writing an extensive study of this topic which I hope to publish soon.
Kol tuv,
Natan Slifkin
ps. The Jewish Star posted all this as well
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I guess it boils down to one point, which was my main source of anguish. When the Torah says "Send away the mother bird and take the children" the second half of that statement is a suggestion of what to do in the event that you need and can use the eggs or baby birds. One is not commanded to take the birds.
The mitzvah, however, is merely to send away the mother bird so you can check what is in her nest. Through this, we either learn to be compassionate, or kabbalistically send a message to God to be compassionate to us, or we enjoy a good breakfast, or we just get mitzvah points which will help us merit extended days.
Do we need to take the baby birds? Unequivocally, NO.
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