OC bimonthly news brief January-February 2023

The Ornithological Council is pleased to provide this bimonthly report covering activities in January and February 2023.

The Ornithological Council’s mission is to:

Ensure that the best ornithological science is incorporated into legislative, regulatory, and management decisions that affect birds;
Enhance the ability of ornithologists to pursue professional activities; and
Promote the influence of ornithology in public affairs.

Our work focuses on animal welfare issues, permits, research funding, and other policies that affect ornithologists and ornithological societies. We greatly appreciate your support. Please contact Laura Bies with questions or concerns about this report or about any other matter of concern to your society or your society’s members.

In this time period, Ornithological Council staff:

Worked with the founders of the Ornithological Exchange, Ellen Paul and Chris Merkord, to transfer management of that website to the Ornithological Council. Learn more about the transition here.

Released its 2022 Annual Report – read it to learn more about how the OC serves the ornithological community and what we accomplished last year.

Sent a letter to the Department of the Interior, thanking them for reversing their policy prohibiting the use of drones. Read the letter here and learn more about the policy change here.

Participated in a webinar with the Association of Field Ornithologists and the Wilson Ornithological Society, as part of their series on professional career development in ornithology, about what the OC is and how we serve the ornithological community.

Participated in a quarterly meeting with Bird Banding Lab staff, to discuss issues of mutual interest.

Met with staff from the Migratory Birds Program at US Fish and Wildlife Service to discuss issues related to Migratory Bird Treaty Act permits.

Virtually attended a meeting during the Pacific Seabird Group annual meeting regarding the use of drones in seabird research.

Continued to reinvigorated its ‘supporting membership’ category, to expand its membership and its reach to ensure that all ornithologists can benefit from the OC’s resources and expertise. Now, organizations and institutions can become part of the OC community of those who work with and love birds. Learn more and see the list of current supporting members here.

Continued work on our update of the Guidelines to the Use of Wild Birds in Research. We are currently in the process of reviewing the literature for new papers published since the 2010 publication of the current edition. New reference lists for each chapter are being made available on BIRDNET.org once completed, and once all chapter updates are ready, a new PDF of the complete Guidelines with the new references will be compiled and posted online.

Provided direct individual assistance to ornithologists who belong to OC societies regarding how to obtain the permits necessary to complete their research. During January and February, we assisted two individuals with permit issues.

Posted articles and updates on the Ornithology Exchange regarding:

All these updates, and more, are always available on the ‘News From the OC’ forum on Ornithological Exchange. Each time OC posts in the News from the OC forum, the link is sent to the OC society representatives to share with their networks. If your society would like these emails sent directly to someone else in your society, please let me know.

NewsBRIEF is sent to Ornithological Council member society secretaries and representatives to the OC board. We encourage you to share it with other leaders within your society. (If you received this email directly from the OC and are not a current society representative or secretary, please let me know so I can update our roster.)

Thanks for your support!

Laura Bies
Executive Director
Ornithological Council
202.905.9141
laurabiesoc@gmail.com

Providing Scientific Information about Birds

In this time period, Ornithological Council staff:

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