March/April NewsBRIEF

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:

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

January/February NewsBRIEF

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

Over the last two months, Ornithological Council staff:

1. Worked with the founders of the Ornithological Exchange, Ellen Paul and Chris Merkord, to transfer management of that website to the Ornithological Council. Learn more about the transition here.

2. Released its 2022 Annual Report – read it to learn more about how the OC serves the ornithological community and what we accomplished last year.

3. Sent a letter to the Department of the Interior, thanking them for reversing their policy prohibiting the use of drones. Read the letter here and learn more about the policy change here.

4. Participated in a webinar with the Association of Field Ornithologists and the Wilson Ornithological Society, as part of their series on professional career development in ornithology, about what the OC is and how we serve the ornithological community.

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

6.. Met with staff from the Migratory Birds Program at US Fish and Wildlife Service to discuss issues related to Migratory Bird Treaty Act permits.

7. Virtually attended a meeting during the Pacific Seabird Group annual meeting regarding the use of drones in seabird research.

8. 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. Learn more and see the list of current supporting members here.

9. 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.

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

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

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

OC thanks DOI for drone reversal

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.

November/December NewsBRIEF

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.