(CNN) Every July, people from all across Canada travel to Ottawa for Bluesfest, one of the country's largest music festivals.

But this year, preparations for the festival are on hold to protect one very special attendee: a mother bird and her nest.

Workers discovered the bird, a killdeer, guarding her four eggs while they were setting up one of the festival's main stages. The breed is protected by the Canadian government and cannot be moved without federal permission.

"I have to say this is one of the most challenging problems that we've been presented with recently," Bluesfest executive director Mark Monahan told reporters.

A parent killdeer may abandon the eggs if they are moved more than a few feet, Carleton University naturalist Michael Runtz told CNN partner CBC

Read More