The Ornithological Council has released a new edition of its foundational publication, the Guidelines to the Use of Wild Birds in Research. The 4th edition incorporates text from the 3rd edition (published in 2010) with list of new references published since that edition’s release.
The Guidelines provides an in-depth guide to the animal welfare considerations when performing research involving wild birds, including ethical considerations and the legal framework that must be followed by researchers. Topics include: investigator impact generally, collecting and trapping, marking, transport, housing and captive breeding, minor and major manipulative procedures, and euthanasia.
First published in 1988, by the Wilson Ornithological Society, the Cooper Ornithological Society, and the American Ornithologists’ Union – with encouragement and financing from the National Science Foundation – the Guidelines to the Use of Wild Birds in Research was later revised in 1997, 1999, and 2010.
Since its inception in 1992, the Ornithological Council has assumed responsibility for periodic revisions of the Guidelines. This new edition was made possible by the contributions of several individuals who conducted literature searches for each chapter and compiled lists of new references. Chapter reference lists were provided by Kayla Martin (Chapter 2), Laura Bies (Chapters 4, 5, and 8), Ian Ausprey (Chapter 3), Jeanne Fair and Alicia Romero (Chapter 6), Lisa Tell and Emily Graves (Chapter 7), and Rick Spaulding and Émile Brisson Curadeau (Drone Supplement). The text remains that from the 3rd edition, skillfully written and compiled by Anne Barrett Clark, Clara Davie, Jeanne Fair, Jason Jones, Gary Kaiser and Ellen Paul.
You can download a PDF of the Guidelines to the Use of Wild Birds in Research here.