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Why Birds

The Fish and Wildlife Service has a mandate and a trust responsibility to maintain healthy bird populations for the benefit of the American people. Why Birds. Birds are indicators of ecosystem health Occupy a diverse range of niches Cost effective to monitor

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Why Birds

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  1. The Fish and Wildlife Service has a mandate and a trust responsibility to maintain healthy bird populations for the benefit of the American people

  2. Why Birds Birds are indicators of ecosystem health • Occupy a diverse range of niches • Cost effective to monitor • Track changes to natural systems • Management for birds protect many taxa

  3. Birds are important indicators of our environmental health

  4. Birds are important to people • Pest control • Pollinators • Recreation • 48 million American “Birders” • $82 billion in total industry output

  5. A History of Bird Conservation

  6. Widespread Bird Declines 1800s and early 1900s Bird populations were under tremendous hunting pressure to meet society’s needs

  7. Unregulated Hunting No hunting season restrictions No “bag limits” All species could be hunted Widespread bird & egg collecting

  8. Plume Trade By the turn of the century ~ 2 million birds were being killed yearly by plume hunters

  9. Birds and Hats Frank Chapman's 1886 Feathered Hat Census ¾ of 700 hats

  10. Collecting for Science Bird and egg collecting has impacts on rare birds

  11. Grassroots Conservation Movement • Boston Socialite Harriet Hemenway starts “afternoon teas” • Massachusetts Audubon Society founded • Over 900 women join • Become powerful activists Five O'Clock Tea, by Charles Baude, after original by EdouardGelhay. From Harper's Bazar, Saturday, February 15, 1893. Courtesy Smithsonian Institution Libraries.

  12. The Lacey Act1900 It is illegal to transport or sell a bird in one state when illegally hunted in another state

  13. Weeks-McLean Law 1913 • Prohibited • Spring hunting • Marketing and importation of feathers for women's fashion • Gave the Secretary of Agriculture the power to set hunting seasons nationwide Replaced by the MBTA

  14. The Passenger Pigeon “A Kentucky flock was a mile wide and passed for 4 hours at a rate of 1 mile/minute giving us an estimate of 230,272,000 pigeons” – Alexander Wilson

  15. The Passenger Pigeon Goes EXTINCT Last Pigeon “Martha” dies in 1914

  16. Migratory Bird treaties

  17. Convention Between the United States and Great Britain for the Protection of Migratory Birds - 1916 Whereas, many species of birds in the course of their annual migrations traverse certain parts of the Dominion of Canada and the United States…

  18. KEY HIGHLIGHTS • GOAL: assure the preservation of birds • Differentiated birds into three groups • Game Birds, Insectivorous, Other Non-game Birds • Set closed dates for hunting game birds • Closed the season entirely all other species • Established permits for agricultural pests

  19. OTHER TREATY HIGHLIGHTS • Established refuge zones • Protect birds that “…have common flyways, breeding, wintering, feeding or moulting areas” • Enhancing habitat • Exchanging research data

  20. Species Protected By MBTA Only Species, Families, “groups” mentioned in any of the four Treaties are protected

  21. What is a “Migratory” Bird? Ecological: a species that moves between two or more different areas during its annual cycle • Altitudinal • Longitudinal • Latitudinal • Long-distance migrant • Short-distance migrant

  22. Migratory Flyways

  23. What is a “Migratory Bird”? Statutory Definition …any naturally occurring native bird …not raised in captivity …listed in 50 CFR Part 10.13 …includes any part, nest or egg of any such bird Distinguishes between “Game” and “Nongame”

  24. 50 CFR § 10.13 • Species are NATIVE • Occurs naturally in US or Territory • Species/Family covered by one of the four treaties • Does not have to be ecologically migratory

  25. 10.13 List is Dynamic • Species can be added with distribution changes • Most common reason for addition or deletion is taxonomic changes WRENTIT • Family Timaliidae not covered by any Treaty • In 2010 put in Sylviidae; a family covered by both Mexico & USSR • Will be added to 10.13 with next revision

  26. 2010 Update • Updated taxonomy and species occurrences • Added Island Endemics – Hawaii and US Territories • 60+ Families covered • 1,007 species protected • Up from 831

  27. Not All Birds Protected What do you mean not all bird species are protected by the MBTA??

  28. MBTA Reform Act 2004 • Amends MBTA to protect only native species • occurrence results from natural biological or ecological processes • Requires USFWS to list species (non-native) not protected by MBTA • occurrence results from intentional and unintentional human-assisted introductions

  29. Bird Species to Which the MBTA Does Not Apply70 FR 49 • Do NOT belong to a Family covered by Treaties • Has occurred in U.S. at least once • Occurs due to intentional or unintentional human-assisted introductions • No credible evidence of occurrence naturally

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