A Century of Advancing Avian Conservation Science
Birds bring joy merely by their presence, from their bold colors and majestic songs to their grace as they glide through the sky. Birds contribute more than beauty to the environment and society. Many plants depend on hummingbirds and other species to pollinate them. Hawks and owls prey on rodents and other pests. Fruit- and grain-eating birds help spread plants’ seeds.
Activities such as bird watching and hunting, along with related tourism, also contribute to the economy. Approximately 45 million people participate in bird watching in the U.S. and $41 billion per year are spent on related trips and equipment alone. Hunting of migratory and upland game birds also brings billions of dollars to the economy.
Birds are also good indicators of environmental health because they are sensitive to habitat change. Changes in bird populations can indicate environmental stressors, such as impacts from extreme weather or human development, which could affect other parts of the ecosystem. For all of these reasons and others, researchers conduct avian conservation science.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of a program dedicated to that effort—the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory. The lab, now based at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Maryland, was established in 1920 to study and help protect North American birds. The USGS laboratory issues permits for banding in the U.S., distributes aluminum bands—about 1 million a year—to participating scientists in the U.S. and Canada, and is a central repository for banding records in both countries.
Wisdom, a Laysan albatross and the oldest known banded bird in the wild, with one of her chicks named Kūkini. (Photograph courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.)