The Ornithological Council submitted comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the agency’s recent proposal to change to its process for issuing permits for the incidental take of bald and golden eagles. The agency first announced its plans to streamline the permitting process in September 2021.

The proposed rule would create general permits for four activities: wind-energy generation projects, power line infrastructure, disturbance of breeding bald eagles, and bald eagle nest take. Those whose activities fall into one of those categories would be required to register with the USFWS and self-certify compliance with permit conditions. Individual permits will be available for any project that does not qualify for one of the proposed general permits.

The Ornithological Council’s comments support the development of a new permitting scheme, but offered a number of comments and suggestions for the agency to consider as it moves toward finalizing the rule. While the proposal would eliminate the need for independent third party monitoring, the OC’s comments expressed concerned about a permitting scheme that would rely solely on permittees performing regular monitoring and self-reporting eagle deaths. We believe that independent monitoring is essential and that the cost should be borne by the permittee. Monitors should be qualified biologists who are trained in a standard methodology that has been peer-reviewed and field-tested.

The comments also encouraged that permit conditions should provide that all carcasses and bird parts must be collected and preserved according to established protocols. All carcasses and parts that are not needed by the USFWS for law enforcement purposes or for the National Eagle repository, or by Tribes, should be offered to museums and ornithologists for research.

The OC also encouraged the agency to put in place standard permits conditions that would allow systematic monitoring at their project sites by USFWS staff or contractors. Further, permit conditions should encourage access for researchers to study the effects of their projects on all migrator birds, not just eagles. Some wind energy facilities may cause substantial  avian mortality, and access for research can be difficult to secure. A better understanding of avian mortality and the behavioral changes associated with wind turbines, would benefit the agency, the permit holder, and the birds themselves.

The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act prohibits any take of bald eagles and golden eagles, except as permitted by federal regulations. Pursuant to regulations, “take” is defined as to pursue, shoot, shoot at, kill, capture, trap, molest, or disturb (50 CFR 22.3). Under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to issue regulations that permit the taking of eagles for various purposes, as long as such take is compatible with the preservation of the eagle.

The USFWS also published rules regarding eagle incidental take in 2009, revising them in 2016.

Proceedings from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Institute for Laboratory Animal Research’s workshop on “Discussing and Understanding Animal Welfare Challenges in Research and Education on Wildlife, Non-Model Animal Species, and Biodiversity,” held in February 2022, are now available online. That workshop brought together regulators and the regulated community to discuss and understand challenges related to wildlife, non-model species, and biodiversity in research and education.

Ornithological Council Executive Director Laura Bies was part of the planning committee for the virtual workshop. Discussion topics during the two-day online workshop included perspectives on animal welfare considerations; laws, regulations, and permits associated with fish and wildlife; wild animal population concerns; the role of veterinarians in wildlife research; restraint and handling of animals in the field; and transition of wild animals to captive settings.

Recordings from the workshop, as well as PDFs of each speakers’ presentation, are also available at the workshop website.

Dr. William Bowerman, chair of the OC, was selected earlier this year to serve on the new ILAR Standing Committee on Animal Care and Use. That committee will be undertaking a revision or expansion of The Guide to the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, and the February workshop was organized to inform those efforts.  The Guide to the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals is published by ILR and is widely applied to research conducted or funded by the federal government. That guidance document is a suitable standard for biomedical research, but it has little information relevant to wildlife research beyond general principles and is therefore not well suited to wildlife work, particularly fieldwork. Through the virtual workshop and other efforts, the OC is partnering with ILAR to assist them in broadening their guidance to better include the realities of wildlife research.

The Ornithological Council submitted comments to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service regarding its recent proposal to restructure the fees the agency charges for quarantine services, import/export permits, and other veterinary services.

In general, the OC supports the development of a permit fee system that will cover the costs to the agency of management the permitting system and that can be adjusted annually as those costs change. Our comments did encourage APHIS to consider extending the duration of import/export permits from one year to three years, reducing the workload for ornithologists who must apply for these permits each year, and for the APHIS staff who must review and approve these permits.

Comments can be submitted to APHIS through Dec. 2. You can read the OC’s comments here.

The Ornithological Council is pleased to provide this bimonthly report covering activities in September and October 2022. 

The Ornithological Council’s mission is to: 

• Ensure that the best ornithological science is incorporated into legislative, regulatory, and management decisions that affect birds;
• Enhance the ability of ornithologists to pursue professional activities; and
• Promote the influence of ornithology in public affairs.

Our work focuses on animal welfare issues, permits, 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. Attended the Association of Field Ornithologists’ 100th annual meeting in Plymouth, Massachusetts. OC Executive Director Laura Bies spoke to the AFO Council about the Ornithological Council and also presented to AFO members about the OC’s activities and services. 

2. Partnered with the AOS Collections Committee to take part in the AOS Student Affairs Committee professional development webinar series, in a webinar about navigating the permitting process. 

3. Continued to reinvigorated its ‘supporting membership’ category, to expand its membership and its reach to ensure that all ornithologists can benefit from the OC’s resources and expertise. Now, organizations and institutions can become part of the OC community of those who work with and love birds. Two applications for supporting membership have been approved by the OC board, from the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory and the Ventana Wildlife Society. Learn more here. https://birdnet.org/oc/supporting-members/

4. Continued to launch two new working groups, focusing on (1) the use of wild birds in research and (2) permitting issues. The board’s vision is that each working group will have about 5 or 6 members, representing the breadth of our societies’ geographic and taxonomic diversity. This will offer ornithologists of all ages and career levels a chance to interact with representatives from other societies, contribute to the ornithological community in a new way, and dig deeper into issues they are interested in. OC representatives will be reaching out to their Society leadership soon, if they haven’t already. 

5. Participated in a quarterly meeting with Bird Banding Lab staff, to discuss issues of mutual interest.  

6. 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 (only one chapter is left to be 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. If you’d like to help with Chapter 3: Capture and Marking, please contact our Executive Director.

7. Provided direct individual assistance to ornithologists who belong to OC societies regarding how to obtain the permits necessary to complete their research. During September and October, we assisted two individuals with permit issues.

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

– Updated avian influenza dashboard

– Emperor Penguin listed as an threatened species under ESA

– The Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Enhancements Act introduced in U.S. House of Representatives

– U.S. State of the Birds report released

– APHIS to revise fees for import/export permits, quarantines, other services

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

The Ornithological Council is pleased to provide this bimonthly report covering activities in July and August 2022. 

The Ornithological Council’s mission is to: 

• Ensure that the best ornithological science is incorporated into legislative, regulatory, and management decisions that affect birds;
• Enhance the ability of ornithologists to pursue professional activities; and
• Promote the influence of ornithology in public affairs.

Our work focuses on animal welfare issues, permits, 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, the Ornithological Council:

Prepared comments on the permits issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Endangered Species Act, CITES, and the Wild Bird Conservation Act. These comments were submitted in two different letters, which you can read here and here. 

Reinvigorated its ‘supporting membership’ category, to expand its membership and its reach to ensure that all ornithologists can benefit from the OC’s resources and expertise. Now, organizations and institutions can become part of the OC community of those who work with and love birds. Two applications for supporting membership have been approved by the OC board, from the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory and the Ventana Wildlife Society. Learn more here. https://birdnet.org/oc/supporting-members/

Launched two new working groups, focusing on (1) the use of wild birds in research and (2) permitting issues. The board’s vision is that each working group will have about 5 or 6 members, representing the breath of our societies’ geographic and taxonomic diversity. This will offer ornithologists of all ages and career levels a chance to interact with representatives from other societies, contribute to the ornithological community in a new way, and dig deeper into issues they are interested in. Society leadership will be hearing more from their OC representatives soon!

Participated in a quarterly meeting with Bird Banding Lab staff, to discuss issues of mutual interest.  

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 (only one chapter is left to be 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. If you’d like to help with Chapter 3: Capture and Marking, please contact our Executive Director.

Provided direct individual assistance to ornithologists who belong to OC societies regarding how to obtain the permits necessary to complete their research. During July and August, we assisted two individuals with permit issues. We also assisted one IACUC with animal welfare issues. 

Posted articles and updates on the Ornithology Exchange regarding:

White House mandates immediate open access for federally funded research

Applegate sworn in as USGS Director

OC comments on various USFWS permits

Sixty-third Supplement to the Check-list of North American Birds published

OC submits comments on MBTA permits

Court strikes down Trump-era ESA rules

COMMENT OPPORTUNITY: USFWS taking additional comments on Ivory-billed delisting

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