Go for it! Norway maples are massively invasive here where I live and a royal pain in the patookus. Hooray for getting rid of it. I don't see why you couldn't lop off most of the limbs and leave the rest - but I would suggest girdling the tree low down to keep it from coming right back. Plant a native wisteria or trumpet creeper to climb over it and you should have birds galore

I second Jill's idea. Also, maybe mulch very heavily around the trunk, as sprouts will come back up from the roots once you girdle it. So, you'll want to smother those sprouts. Maybe a hot compost pile there?

I hope you get lots of vistors. I wish we had left a snag the last time we removed a tree.

PWhatever you do, please wait until after nesting season, in October or November. If you chop it now, you'll be putting nestlings into the wood chipper.

Thanks for all the great advice and encouragement -- I'm very excited! And thanks to Elly for the warning -- I'll wait until Autumn though, just in case anybody's nesting up there! The tree isn't really ideal for a snag -- based on the circumference, the diameter is only about 9" -- but I think it has some potential nonetheless, especially for the downies who nest nearby.