Last updated March 2023

Link to state website

Contact

IL Department of Natural Resources
Office of Resource Conservation
One Natural Resources Way
Springfield, IL 62702-1271
Phone (217) 785-8547

DNR.ScientificCollectorPermit@illinois.gov

Is a state permit needed for banding?

Yes. The application form expressly states that it is required for any project that involves “The handling or collection of live fish and wildlife for educational or research purposes.”

Permit application forms

• Application Form
• Renewal – same form
• Threatened and Endangered – separate form (but part of the application package)
• Salvage – list under “Description of Monitoring, Sampling or Collecting Procedures”
• Annual Report Form

State lands

Permit for Research in Illinois State Parks, Forests and Conservation Areas for any project to be undertaken in any of Illinois’ State Parks, Forests or Conservation Areas.

Prior notice

As required by the land owner or land manager; check permit conditions. Even if prior notice is not expressly required, ornithologists should always notify the land manger or landowner of the dates, times, and places where activities will take place to assure the safety of the researcher and to avoid conflict with activities scheduled for other researchers or the general public.

Policies

Illinois Administrative Code Title 17 Section 520.10  

Endangered Species

Illinois has an endangered species statute (520 Illinois Compiled Statutes 10. Illinois Endangered Species Act). Always check with the state agency – these lists can change!

Endangered

Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus)
Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda)
American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus)
Swainson’s Hawk (Buteo swainsoni)
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)
Black Tern (Chlidonias niger)
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea)
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)
Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus)
Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis)
Swainson’s Warbler (Limnothlypis swainsonii)
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea)
Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
Wilson’s Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor)
King Rail (Rallus elegans)
Forster’s Tern (Sterna forsteri)
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)
Least Tern (Sternula antillarum)
Bewick’s Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)
Greater Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus cupido)
Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus)

Threatened

Rufa Red Knot (Calidris canutus rufa)
Chuck-will’s-widow (Caprimulgus carolinensis)
Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus)
Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea)
Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis)
Barn Owl (Tyto alba)