The Ornithological Council

The Ornithological Council is pleased to provide this bimonthly report covering activities in January and February 2023. The Ornithological Council’s mission is to:

The Ornithological Council has released its 2022 Annual Report – read it to learn more about how the OC serves the ornithological community and what we accomplished last year.

The Ornithological Council recently reached out to the Secretary of the Interior, to think the department for reversing its moratorium on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones. In late 2019, the Department grounded all Chinese-made drones. Then, in early 2020, the Secretary of the Interior extended that decision to all drone use by the Department and its agencies, in the name of national security.

The Ornithological Council has long support the use of drones in wildlife research, management, and conservation. In late 2017, the Ornithological Council asked the Office of the Solicitor to advise the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, other federal agencies, and the state agencies that the use of drones for wildlife research is not subject to the Airborne Hunting Act. It also asked that if the Solicitor determines that the use of drones to study wildlife is subject to the AHA, then the Solicitor should address the need for federal permits because there are few, if any, state laws pertaining to drone use for wildlife research and monitoring.

Then, in early 2018, the OC filed a petition for rulemaking, asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to issue permits for the use of drones to study wildlife. That petition for rulemaking proposed the changes necessary for the USFWS to issue permits under the AHA, since, if the Solicitor determines that the use of drones for wildlife research is covered by the AHA, permits would be needed.

Now that the drone ban has been lifted, the Ornithological Council supports the development of regulations supporting the appropriate use of drones in wildlife research, management, and conservation.

Read the recent letter to DOI here.

More background on the use of drones to research birds is available here.

The OC’s fact sheet on drones is available here.

The Ornithological Council is pleased to provide this bimonthly report covering activities in November and December 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. 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.
2. 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.
3. Announced the availability of workshop 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. 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. Recordings of that workshop are available here.
4. 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/
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 November and December, we assisted three individuals with permit issues.
7. Posted articles and updates on the Ornithology Exchange regarding:

Lesser Prairie-Chicken listed under the Endangered Species Act

Comment period extended on eagle permits

OC comments on APHIS permits

Proceedings released for animal welfare workshop

OC submits comments on eagle incidental take permits

USFWS updates list of birds protected by MBTA

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

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.