The Ornithological Council is pleased to provide this bimonthly report covering activities in March and April 2023.

Our work focuses on permits for ornithological research, animal welfare issues, research funding, and other policies that affect ornithologists and ornithological societies. We greatly appreciate your support. Please contact our Executive Director with questions or concerns about this report or about any other matter of concern to your society or your society’s members.

In this time period, Ornithological Council staff:

1. Updated the Ornithological Council’s website, http://www.birdnet.org, which contains extensive information about the permits that are required for ornithological research. That information has recently been reviewed and updated as needed – including information and links to scientific collecting and banding permit applications for all 50 states in the US. There is also information about US federal permits, as well as the provincial and federal permits required in Canada. Check out the updated permitting information here.

2. Continued the transfer of the Ornithology Exchange. Earlier this year, the OC took over management of the Ornithology Exchange. Since then, we have been reviewing existing content, cleaning up old parts of the site, and exploring new ways to use the OE. Some OC societies are currently taking advantage of the ability to have private discussion forums on OE for their boards or committees. If you are interested in doing so, or have other feedback on OE and how to make it more valuable to the ornithological community, please contact me (laurabiesoc@gmail.com).

3. Welcomed a new Supporting Member – the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley. Learn more about supporting members and see the list of current supporting members here.

4. Explored new CDC guidance regarding import permits and reached out to both the CDC and the Department of Transportation regarding how this guidance will affect importation of bird specimens and samples. These conversations are ongoing. The OC’s Import Guide will be updated to reflect this information once our questions are answered.

5. Continued work on our update of the Guidelines to the Use of Wild Birds in Research. We are currently in the process of reviewing the literature for new papers published since the 2010 publication of the current edition. New reference lists for each chapter are being made available on BIRDNET.org once completed, and once all chapter updates are ready, a new PDF of the complete Guidelines with the new references will be compiled and posted online.

6. Provided direct individual assistance to ornithologists who belong to OC societies regarding how to obtain the permits necessary to complete their research. During March and April, we assisted seven individuals with permit issues.

7. Posted articles and updates on the Ornithology Exchange regarding:

• Recovering America’s Wildlife Act Reintroduced
  
• Guam Kingfisher reintroduction finalized
  
• Critical habitat designated for Rufa Red Knot
  
• Scientists challenge USFWS director qualifications
  
• CDC release new permitting e-tool
  
• USFWS reopens bi-state Sage Grouse comment period
  
• Ornithological Council’s website on permitting updated
  
• ABC and partners sue FAA over rockets’ effects on birds
• COMMENT OPPORTUNITY: Black-capped Petrel listing open for comment again

All these updates, and more, are always available on the ‘News From the OC’ forum on Ornithological Exchange.