MINNEAPOLIS — The attorney for a Minnesota farmer accused of destroying thousands of protected pelican chicks and eggs says the defendant “flipped out” because the birds were damaging his land.

Craig Staloch made his first appearance in federal court Thursday. Staloch’s attorney, Jason Kohlmeyer, said the American white pelicans cost the farmer $20,000 in expenses and lost revenue over the past three years.

Staloch is accused of smashing more than 3,000 nests, eggs and chicks on farmland he rents on the shores of Minnesota Lake in Faribault County northwest of Wells. Minnesota is the summer home to about 20,000 pairs of pelicans, more than any other state. The birds were once nearly extinct, but have made a comeback since the 1960s.