People who enjoy birds spend more than $100 billion a year on bird-related purchases in the United States, supporting 1.4 million jobs and $90 billion in labor income. Healthy bird populations help the economy directly — through bird feeding, birdwatching and hunting — and indirectly, through services such as protecting crops from pests.
Behind much of the management of those birds are two programs run by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS):
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) | founded in 1920 |
| Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) | begun in 1966 |
Together they hold the longest, most definitive record of change in North American bird populations.
Students watching birds. Photo: Glacier National Park, National Park Service.
Who uses the data
Federal and state wildlife agencies, the Migratory Bird Flyway Councils and non-governmental organizations rely on BBL and BBS data to:
- meet their legal mandates;
- reduce conflicts between birds and people;
- identify the species of greatest conservation need;
- set healthy harvest levels for hunting.
A father and son hunting. Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Midwest Region.
The data underpin work under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, State wildlife action plans and other federal and state programs. Private industries have also adopted science-based, sustainable practices built on the data that benefit both their operations and birds. Without enough support for the two programs, the groups that depend on them for sound decisions and shared solutions are put at risk.
A century of discovery
| When | |
|---|---|
| 1918 | the Migratory Bird Treaty Act passes, directing the creation of a federal bird banding program |
| 1920 | the Bird Banding Laboratory is established; in 1923 it forms the North American Bird Banding Program with Canada's Bird Banding Office, sharing stewardship of migratory birds |
| 1940s | banding data reveal migration flyways, stopover sites and wintering grounds, leading to wildlife refuges and science-based population management |
| 1960s | banding helps reveal the decline of the peregrine falcon and other species, spurring action against extinction — including the ban on DDT in 1972 |
| 1966 | the Breeding Bird Survey begins in the U.S. and Canada, tracking continental populations "to help keep common birds common" |
| 1989 | BBS data show widespread declines in many long-distance migrants, leading to Partners in Flight (1990) and the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (2000) |
| 1995 | USGS data become part of the Adaptive Harvest Management model for waterfowl and harvest strategies for other birds |
| 2001 | BBS data help make commercial and military flights safer through the U.S. Air Force's Bird Avoidance Model |
| 2000s–2020s | USGS scientists build models of population trends for more than 540 species, useful at the scales managers work at and feeding the recurring State of the Birds reports of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative |
| 2022 | bird marking lets USGS scientists track a wild bird infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza — key to understanding spread to poultry |
Why invest
The two programs:
- provide impartial, long-term data for decisions;
- inspire thousands of citizen-science volunteers;
- unite partners to stretch federal investment;
- are the bedrock of bird research in North America;
- support birdwatching, hunting and ecotourism;
- give early warning about the health of the environment.
An American kestrel with a vole. Photo: U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, Montana.
The USGS is seeking new partnerships with public and private organizations — using technology, new partners and data-driven decision-making — so the BBL and BBS keep delivering what their users need, for birds and for the people and lands that benefit from them.
Contact: Tom O'Connell, Director, USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center, 304-724-4401.
Sources
Based on Ziolkowski D, Celis-Murillo A, Malpass J, Pardieck K, Martin J, Walker L, "Foundational science in flight—USGS bird programs support conservation, culture, and a thriving U.S. economy," U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2025–3011, USGS; a work of the United States government in the public domain. The imported copy had lost the timeline's dates; they were restored from the fact sheet itself. It cites the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. The photographs are reproduced from the fact sheet.
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