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EURING Newsletter - Volume 2, December
1998
BIRD RINGING ACROSS THE WORLD
After the situation of ringing in South Africa described by
Terry Oatley in the first isse, here a new and very interesting
contribution comes from the United States and Canada. In this huge
geographical area bird ringing is fully co-ordinated between the
two countries and actively used for bird population management and
conservation. Lucie Metras (coordinator of the Canadian Bird Banding
Program) and John Tautin (Chief of the US Bird Banding Laboratory)
report here on the history and fast developments of bird banding
in North America, offering interesting and original experiences
in both the organisation of field work and data management.
THE NORTH AMERICAN BANDING PROGRAM
By John Tautin(1) and Lucie Métras(2)
(1) BIRD BANDING LABORATORY, NATIONAL BIOLOGICAL SERVICE, PATUXENT
WILDLIFE RESEARCH CENTER, 12 100 BEECH FOREST ROAD, LAUREL, MARYLAND
20708 USA (Email: john_tautin@usgs.gov)
(2) CANADIAN BIRD BANDING PROGRAM, CANADIAN WILDLIFE SERVICE,
NATIONAL WILDLIFE RESEARCH CENTRE, 100 GAMELIN BLVD., HULL, QUEBEC,
CANADA K1A 0H3 (Email: lucie.metras@ec.gc.ca)
John James Audubon and Ernest Thompson Seton are acknowledged
as the first banders in North America, even though they did not
actually use bands. Audubon tied silver threads around the legs
of nestling Eastern Phoebes Sayornis phoebe in Pennsylvania in 1803
and was fortunate to recapture two of the nestlings the following
spring. In Canada, Seton marked several Snow Buntings Plectrophenax
nivalis with printer’s ink in 1882 in Manitoba.
During the early years of the North American bird banding program,
the daunting challenges of geography and a poor distribution of
banders relative to bird populations limited the early studies of
marked birds. These challenges were gradually overcome by several
factors. The two countries’ mutual interest in the conservation
of shared populations of migratory bird species was formalized with
the signing of the 1916 Convention between the United States and
Canada for the Protection of Migratory Birds and the establishment
of the uniform, jointly administered banding program in early 1920s.
Today, the Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL), center for the American
banding activities and part of the US Geological Survey and the
Bird Banding Office (BBO), responsible for coordinating the banding
efforts in Canada, and part of the Canadian Wildlife Service, jointly
administer the North American bird banding program. They have co-operatively
developed similar functions and policies and use the same bands,
reporting forms and data formats. Both offices issue permits and
bands, coordinate the use of auxiliary markers such as neck collars
and radio transmitters, and process and disseminate data. They currently
support the work of 2,400 master permittees who are equivalent to
the United Kingdom’s A class ringers. Some other 3,000 subpermittees
band under their direction.
These banders are comprised of government conservation agencies,
the academic community, professional and amateur ornithologists,
non-governmental organizations, and businesses. They are involved
in establishing waterfowl hunting regulations, monitoring bird populations,
restoring endangered species, studying effects of environmental
contaminants, studying bird behavior and ecology, educating people
about bird conservation, and addressing issues of human health,
safety and economy. Many banders are involved with national and
international level conservation programs. Some examples include
the North American Waterfowl Management Plan which concentrates
on the restoration of waterfowl populations and their habitats in
Canada, Mexico, and the US, the Partners in Flight program which
emphasizes conservation of species which breed in Canada and US
and winter in Latin America, and the Wetlands for the Americas program
which focuses on the conservation of shorebirds.
As of 1997, 57 million banding and 3.1 million recovery records
representing over 900 species and subspecies were on file at the
banding offices. These totals are increasing by about 1.2 million
bandings and 75 thousand encounters annually. Game species (primarily
waterfowl) represent 25% of all bandings, but 75% of the recoveries.
Although historically most banding projects have been small scale
and local, in recent years, large-scale, cooperative projects have
become more prominent in North America. This shift is due to the
pressing need for more good, reliable data for all species of migrants
and their habitats to ensure their conservation through their entire
migratory range. Another noticeable change is that during the last
ten years, the number of projects aimed at gaining more information
on nongame birds, especially landbird, shorebird and seabird species,
has increased due to the pressing need to identify the primary causes
of population declines.
BBL and BBO recognize that improving the quality of scientific
data collected without compromising the safety of the birds, and
increasing the participation of banders in large-scale, long-term
monitoring, conservation and research studies of North American
bird populations are major challenges of today. Both offices are
actively adapting operations to facilitate large-scale studies and
make the banding programs more scientific and effective. The changes
are also being accelerated by recent developments in the bird banding
program:
In 1996, the North American Banding Council (NABC) was formed with
the mission to promote sound and ethical banding principles and
techniques in North America. NABC consists of appointed members
from the major ornithological and banding organizations in North
America. They represent the various groups of bird species being
banded in North America such as passerines and near passerines,
shorebirds, seabirds, waterfowl, raptors. NABC‘s main objectives
are to prepare and disseminate standardized training and study materials,
and to establish standards of competence and ethics through a certification
process at three levels : Assistant, Permittee and Trainer. As early
as 1998, a North American Bander’s Study Guide and a North
American Syllabus for Trainers will be published, including some
specialized materials for banding passerines and near passerines,
raptors and hummingbirds. It is expected that 1998 will see its
first group of NABC certified banders in North America. This certification
will not be mandatory, but will be recognized by both banding offices
(BBL and BBO) as an evidence of demonstrated competence when banding
permits are requested. It is obvious that, in North America, bander
training and certification must be encouraged to improve the quality
of banding data and to increase the number of banders participating
in large -scale, cooperative studies. Improving standards for banding
will also enhance animal welfare.
In 1996, a toll-free telephone number was established in North
America for people to more conveniently report band recoveries.
The goal is to increase band reporting rates substantially from
the 0.32 rate, cited in the Nichols et al. A brief postal address
and the toll-free telephone number are now stamped on larger sized
bands used mostly on waterfowl. A 1995 trial where equal (12,000)
samples of mallards were banded with bands bearing the telephone
number vs. bands bearing only an address indicated that the toll-free
telephone number prompts significantly more band reports from the
public. In 1996, toll-free bands were placed on most mallards banded,
and the availability of the number was announced to the public.
A record number of band recoveries was received in 1996, with nearly
60% coming via the telephone. In 1997, toll-free bands were made
available for all waterfowl banding, as well for larger size bands
used on nongame birds such as herons. Another record year for band
recoveries is expected.
The plan is now to include the 1-800 telephone number on all band
sizes (inside the band for small sizes) and to transit rapidly through
these changes to stabilize the band reporting rate at some new,
higher level that will be re-estimated in a few years. In addition
to a larger volume of data, the toll-free number also produces better
data, primarily because specific and more complete information can
be obtained by the operator. Telephone reports are also more timely
than written reports, thus reducing memory bias.
The September 1997, release of the report, “The North American
Bird Banding Program: Into the 21st Century” is accelerating
changes in the North American bird banding program. The report is
the product of a distinguished panel of experts who were tasked
with reviewing operations of BBL and the broader North American
banding program. The report makes specific recommendations regarding
policies, the now and future collection, the management and dissemination
of banding data. An implementation team has been appointed, and
several task forces are addressing specific recommendations from
the report.
One of the key recommendations was to evaluate the collection of
banding and recovery data with a view towards facilitating the increased
use of contemporary analytical methods and to improve the quality
of data collected from long term large scale studies. For example,
hundreds of banders collect thousands of recapture, resighting and
radio-location data for their specific studies. Approximately 56%
of banders use auxiliary markers (e.g., neck collars, radio transmitters)
in addition to numbered leg bands. At present, however, these data
are not collected and stored at BBL, hence are not available for
general use in meta-analyses. Questions about the universal value
of recapture data exist, though, and exactly which and how much
recapture data should be collected and stored is a continuing debate.
It is predicted that in a near future, select sets of recapture
records will likely be incorporated into our already massive database.
BBL and BBO are already making significant changes in the ways
ongoing accepted data are collected, stored and disseminated to
users. For example, the waterfowl banding and recovery database
are now accessible on cd-rom. Banders are also being encouraged
to submit banding data electronically, with 35% of all banding data
presently being submitted on computer disk. Improved software and
network links will be developed to accomplish the goal of receiving
100% of banding data electronically within few years. BBL is moving
its database from a largely insular system designed for internal
management of a hierarchical database on a minicomputer to a client-server
based system managing a relational database making more use of personal
computers. Raw data will be made more readily available to users,
likely being served through Internet web sites along with explanatory
information and interactive analytical software.
Lastly, BBL and BBO are promoting cooperation and partnership amongst
government agencies, academic research programs and individuals
and groups to assure the long-term success of the North American
bird banding program. Moreover, because the conservation of migratory
birds implies protection of the species and their habitat on the
breeding grounds, migration routes and wintering grounds, international
cooperation and partnerships throughout the entire Western Hemisphere
must be sought or maintained. This would encourage the banding and
stewardship of all birds in the Western Hemisphere; help to conserve
habitat of importance for migratory species; better understand ecological
interactions between endemic and migratory species; increase recoveries
on their wintering or breeding grounds of birds banded in North
America. It is therefore envisaged that BBL and BBO will initiate
work in the near future with other Western Hemisphere governments
to collectively implement, coordinated and integrated banding standards
and protocols for this region of the world.
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