| | Accession Number | 5001796 |
| | Title | North American Bird Banding Program |
| | Project Description | The North American Bird Banding Program is administered by the Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL). |
| | BBL does not conduct research. Rather it functions as a service and administrative center for |
| | those who depend on banding for their work on migratory birds. BBL issues permits and bands; |
| | supplies forms, instructional materials and technical advice; coordinates use of auxiliary markers |
| | such as neck bands and radio transmitters; serves as the repository for banding records; serves |
| | as the clearing house for reports of banded birds; disseminates banding data to researchers and |
| | managers; and assists in the development and coordination of banding projects.BBL jointly |
| | administers the North American bird banding program with the Canadian Wildlife Services Bird |
| | Banding Office (BBO). BBL and BBO have similar functions and policies, and use the same |
| | bands, reporting forms and data formats. Joint administration of the program dates back to 1923. |
| | Informal partners in the management of the program include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, |
| | state/provincial Waterfowl Flyway Councils, The Ornithological Council, and the North American |
| | Banding Council.Banders, and other cooperators and customers of the banding program, include |
| | federal and state conservation agencies (individual scientists, research centers, national parks, |
| | forests, and refuges; the academic community (primarily professors of ornithology or biology and |
| | their students); amateur ornithologists; bird observatories; environmental centers; |
| | nongovernmental organizations such as the National Audubon Society and Ducks Unlimited; and |
| | environmental consulting firms and other private sector businesses.Data from banded birds are |
| | used in monitoring populations, restoring endangered species, studying effects of environmental |
| | contaminants, setting hunting regulations, and addressing issues of human health, safety and |
| | economy such as Lyme disease, bird hazards at airports and crop depredations. Results from |
| | banding studies support national and international conservation programs such as Partners in |
| | Flight, the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, and Wetlands for the Americas. |
| | Annually, approximately 1.2 million birds representing some 900 species and subspecies are |
| | banded. About 85,000 are subsequently encountered and reported. BBL data files contain records |
| | of 63,000,000 bandings and 3.4 million recoveries, with some records dating back to 1908. |
| | Keywords | bird banding, |
| | Principal | John Tautin, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center: john_tautin@usgs.gov; |
| | Investigators |
Return to SIS Projects Listing
