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The U.S. Congress last week passed the Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Enhancements Act, which will reauthorize the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act for another five years. It will also lower the cost share ratio to two to one, with the goal of making the NMBCA’s competitive grants more accessible to smaller conservation organizations. The Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act authorizes grants for the conservation of neotropical migratory birds in the United States and Latin America and the Caribbean, with 75 percent of the amounts made available to be expended on projects outside the United States. The program is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Learn more about the bill from the American Bird Conservancy.  About the Ornithological Council The Ornithological Council is a consortium of scientific societies of ornithologists; these societies span the Western Hemisphere and the research conducted by their members spans the globe. Their cumulative expertise comprises the knowledge that is fundamental and essential to science-based bird conservation and management.  The Ornithological Council is financially supported by our member societies and the individual ornithologists who value our work. If the OC’s resources are valuable to you, please consider joining one of our member societies or donating directly at Birdnet.org. Thank you for your support!

Are you a graduate student working in any area of animal behavior, broadly defined? Do you need more support or feel marginalized in your field/program? Join us a fun and inspiring two-day virtual workshop!! Since 2021, SIGNAL has been holding a virtual, two-day interactive annual workshop specifically designed for animal behavior graduate students that identify as minoritized in STEM. This workshop starts with scientists and diversity specialists as plenary speakers who lead a series of interactive discussions on strategies for responsive mentoring, networking, as well as navigating dysfunctional environments. The workshop continues with a panel of animal behavior leaders in industry, academic, NGO and government careers who share perspectives and strategies for success in diverse career paths related to animal behavior. Finally, the workshop culminates with the establishment of long-term peer mentoring circles, specifically built to empower and support minoritized graduate students in the field of animal behavior. The workshop is funded by the Animal Behavior Society and NSF CAREER grant #2239099 Applications are due May 3rd. Visit this link (https://tinyurl.com/mrw567tz) for more information & to apply for the workshop!

Powdermill Avian Research Center, located in southwestern Pennsylvania (www.powdermillarc.org), is pleased to announce that it will be holding two in-person bird banding workshops in September 2024: 1) Extraction and Banding Workshop: September 10-14 2) Ageing Birds by Molt Workshop: September 24-28 The Extraction and Banding workshop is designed for individuals with little or no banding experience, and focuses on safe handling of birds and extraction from mist nets, banding ethics, and banding methodology. Participants will be introduced to molt terminology, learning to age passerines using molt limits, the Pyle Guide, and molt cycle terminology. Participants in the Ageing Birds by Molt workshop are expected to be proficient in handling and extracting birds from nets. The workshop focuses on molt terminology, learning to age passerines using molt limits (and other characteristics), interpreting the Pyle Guide, and using molt cycle terminology. This workshop is an excellent primer for the NABC Bander Certification as we cover topics in the NABC banding handbook and study guide. Each workshop will begin on their respective Tuesday mornings and end Saturday at noon. The majority of time will be spent in the field with live birds (each banding day will begin before dawn), and these sessions will be complemented with afternoon presentations and discussions. The intended audience for these workshops is those who use bird banding in their research, including bird banding professionals, graduate students, volunteers at banding stations, wildlife professionals, or ornithologists. The cost is $750 per person, or $450 for students who are paying their own registration fee or Latin Americans who are working in Latin America. The workshops will be taught by NABC-certified Trainers and follow NABC principles, standards, and ethics. To express interest in this workshop, please fill out the following Google Form: http://goo.gl/forms/kaQiLhs1aZ Space in the workshop is limited, so please fill out the google form soon. In the coming weeks, our Banding Program Manager will contact those eligible for the workshop with an invitation to register along with additional instructions.  

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife has finalized three rules regarding implementation of the Endangered Species Act. The rules, which address changes to the ESA put in place during the previous administration, cover (1) listing/delisting and designation of critical habitat, (2) the “blanket” 4(d) rule, and (3) interagency consultation. Changes to the listing, delisting, and critical habitat process include rolling back revisions introduced in 2019 that made it more difficult for the USFWS to designate areas outside a species’ current and historic range as “critical habitat.” These new changes give the agency the ability to designate as critical habitat those areas outside a species’ current range that could serve as future habitat, in light of landscape-level changes from climate change. The USFWS also clarified that, when determining whether a species is likely to become endangered in the “foreseeable future,” the “foreseeable future extends as far into the future as the Services can make reasonably reliable predictions” regarding threats to species. The previous rule required that the agency find that those impacts were “likely.” The second change involves the “blanket” 4(d) rule. For some 40 years leading up to the Trump administration, this rule automatically extended the same protection to threatened species that endangered species received under the ESA, while allowing the USFWS to draft special species-specific rules as needed to permit activities that could harm the threatened species. The previous administration revoked this rule, but this week’s final rule puts it back in place. The changes to interagency consultation would allow the agency to impose mitigation as a condition in “no-jeopardy” biological opinions to offset unavoidable take of listed species. Mitigation will be used only after avoidance and minimization measures are applied, in cases where there is remaining, unavoidable take. The rule also removed a provision added in 2019 that described when an effect or consequence of an action would be “reasonably certain to occur” based on “clear and substantial” information. The agency stated that this new provision created confusion when considered alongside the  long-standing “best available science” requirement. Read the USFWS Press Release here. About the Ornithological Council The Ornithological Council is a consortium of scientific societies of ornithologists; these societies span the Western Hemisphere and the research conducted by their members spans the globe. Their cumulative expertise comprises the knowledge that is fundamental and essential to science-based bird conservation and management.  The Ornithological Council is financially supported by our member societies and the individual ornithologists who value our work. If the OC’s resources are valuable to you, please consider joining one of our member societies or donating directly at Birdnet.org. Thank you for your support!

The Center for Biological Diversity and other partners have petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the Wilson’s Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Wilson’s Phalarope is a shorebird that breeds in interior North America and migrates to South America for the winter. According to the petition, “It is facing the imminent threat of becoming an endangered species due to the ecological collapse and desiccation of saline lakes in the Great Basin, a critical link in its migratory journey.” The worldwide population of Wilson’s Phalaropes was estimated at 1.5 million in the 1980’s. Various sources cited in the petition indicate that there has been a significant decline since then,  around 75%. While Wilson’s phalarope was included by the USFWS in the 2002 Birds of Conservation Concern, due to widely reported declines, it has not been included in more recent BCC reports. The USFWS now has 90 days to respond to the petition. Read the press release from the Center for Biological Diversity here. Read the petition submitted to the USFWS here.   About the Ornithological Council The Ornithological Council is a consortium of scientific societies of ornithologists; these societies span the Western Hemisphere and the research conducted by their members spans the globe. Their cumulative expertise comprises the knowledge that is fundamental and essential to science-based bird conservation and management.  The Ornithological Council is financially supported by our member societies and the individual ornithologists who value our work. If the OC’s resources are valuable to you, please consider joining one of our member societies or donating directly at Birdnet.org. Thank you for your support!