May/June NewsBRIEF

The Ornithological Council is pleased to provide this bimonthly report covering activities in May and June 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. Welcomed a new Supporting Member – the International Ornithologists’ Union. Learn more about supporting members and see the list of current supporting members here.
  2. Coordinated and moderated a listening session for the National Science Foundation and the ILAR Standing Committee for the Care and Use of Animals in Research to hear from ornithologists regarding the animal welfare challenges of ornithological research.
  3. Renewed the Memorandum of Understanding with the USDA APHIS Wildlife Service’s National Wildlife Research Center. The MOU lays the groundwork for partnership and cooperation between the OC and the NWRC.
  4. Submitted comments to the USDA Animal and Plants Health Inspection Service on their import/export permits, to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the Form 3-177 and the online eDecs system, and to the USFWS on the Form 3–200–7 (application for a Migratory Bird and Eagle Scientific Collecting permit). Learn more – and read the comment letters – here.
  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 May and June, we assisted three individuals with permit issues and one IACUC with animal welfare issues.
  7.  Posted articles and updates on the Ornithology Exchange:

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

The OC weighs in on permitting issues

Over the last month, the Ornithological Council has provided three different sets of comments to federal agencies on permitting issues. Given that many of the ornithologists who are members of the organizations that make up the Ornithological Council must secure various permits from federal agencies either regularly or from time to time during their career, ensuring that the process of applying for, renewing, and amending these permits is efficient and predictable is of the utmost concern to the OC.

The OC provided comments to the USDA Animal and Plants Health Inspection Service on their import/export permits. Among other comments, the OC recommended that the permit duration be extended from one year to three years. The comments also recommended clarifying how disease categories apply and which countries can be included on blanket permits (i.e. permits that cover all imports and exports over the permit duration).

The OC also provided comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the Form 3-177 and the online eDecs system. Those comments asked that the USFWS add the capacity to upload bulk information on spreadsheets, rather than having to enter each specimen individually within eDecs. The OC also asked that the eDecs system more clearly indicated which permits are needed for each species.

Finally, the OC submitted brief comments on the USFWS Form 3–200–7 (application for a Migratory Bird and Eagle Scientific Collecting permit). The USFWS is proposing to add a question regarding whether institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) approval is required for the work that a permit is being applied for. The OC comments note that a researcher might be applying for a scientific collecting permit before they apply for or secure approval from their institution’s IACUC, and so recommended adding an additional possible answer to the proposed question, which would allow the applicant to indicate that they have not yet applied for or secured IACUC approval but plan to do so before beginning their field work.

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