A Century of Migratory Bird Protection Part 2: A Century of Migratory Bird Protection

Photos by Michael R. Jeffords

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act has protected North American migratory birds for the past 100 years, halting unregulated decimation—and potential extinction—of hundreds of bird species, which benefit sportsmen and birders alike.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act provides protection to more than 800 bird species, including nearly 170 species considered game birds, but hasn’t remained static over the past century. Rather, the Act has evolved as a result of years of amassed data furthering our understanding of migration patterns and population trends.

The banding of North American birds dates to 1803 when John James Audubon tied silver wire around the legs of a nest of Eastern phoebes (Sayornis phoebe), and documented their return the following year. Credit for creation of the modern-day bird banding effort belongs to Paul Bartsch, who in 1902 banded 23 black-crowned night-herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) while working for the Smithsonian Institution. The American Bird Banding Association was founded in 1909, and operated until programs created by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act were established in the United States (1920) and Canada (1923).

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act allows for changes in the level of protection provided to birds found in North America, such as those implemented in 2006 to remove protected species status for the mute swan (Cygnus olor). The mute swans found throughout North America today are descendants of swans imported from Europe beginning in the mid 1800s. Once found gracing the grounds of formal estates, zoos and city parks, numbers residing in natural settings increased significantly in the late 1900s. Changing the status of this non-native species took into account its aggressive behavior toward native wildlife and humans, habit of overgrazing and destroying aquatic ecosystems and lack of natural predators.

The giant Canada goose (Branta canadensis maxima) is an example of a bird likely to have become extinct without protection under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. By the early 20th century, numbers had seriously declined due to overhunting and habitat loss, and this subspecies was thought to have been extinct. After the 1962 discovery of a small flock in Rochester, Minnesota, implementation of sound scientific and wildlife management practices resulted in the recovery of the giant Canada goose, and its status today as one of North America’s most popular game species.

Also benefiting from protection created under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was the wood duck (Aix sponsa), considered by many to be on the brink of extinction in the early 1900s. The wood duck population was able to recover as a result of a nationwide hunting ban from 1918 to 1941, and it is not only one of Illinois’ most common nesting ducks, but among our most commonly harvested ducks.

Migratory birds are important as predators of injurious insects and rodents, and indicators of environmental health. Economically, they stimulate our economy through ecotourism and revenues realized as a result of the acquisition of equipment purchased by the millions of American sportsmen, birdwatchers, bird feeders and photographers who enjoy time outdoors centered on birds. And thanks to the birds, millions of acres of critical habitat have been acquired throughout North America, benefitting all native fauna and flora, and the people who utilize those wild lands.

---

Kathy Andrews Wright is retired from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources where she was editor of Outdoor Illinois magazine. She is currently the editor of Outdoor Illinois Wildlife Journal and Illinois Audubon magazine.