"Experts say there’s “no substitute” for the Bird Banding Laboratory or the Breeding Bird Survey, which help reveal the health and status of avian populations across the country."
"Two federal programs that experts consider indispensable for bird research and conservation in the United States could be eliminated under the Trump administration’s proposed budget for 2026.
If you’re not an ornithologist, you’ve probably never heard of the Bird Banding Laboratory or the Breeding Bird Survey, two federal programs managed by the U.S. Geological Survey. But birds in this country — and around the world — would be much worse off without these two programs, which I covered at length in my 2023 book on the history of bird migration research.
The Bird Banding Laboratory has a history in the federal government that stretches back over a century. As you might guess from its name, the program oversees bird banding in the United States — the process through which bird researchers humanely capture wild birds, place uniquely numbered metal bands around their legs, and release them. Tracking banded birds allows researchers to learn something about their lives and movements and has produced mountains of scientific data.
The Breeding Bird Survey, meanwhile, began in the 1960s. It enlists thousands of eager volunteers each spring to carry out surveys of local birds across the continent, providing long-term data on whether populations are increasing or decreasing over time. We wouldn’t know how well common but vulnerable birds, from hawks to hummingbirds, are doing without these annual surveys."
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