Oregon

Today, August 16^th 2016, marks a historic day for migratory birds. On this day, 100 year ago, the United States and Great Britain (on behalf of Canada) signed the Protection of Migratory Birds—also called the Migratory Bird Treaty. The Migratory Bird Treaty represents the first international commitment to protect and conserve the migratory birds that we share with our international partners. This and three others that followed—with Mexico (1936), Japan (1972), and Russia (then Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; 1976)—form the cornerstone of our efforts to conserve birds that migrate across international borders. The implementing legislation for the treaties in the United States, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), prohibits the take, possession, importation or exportation, transport, sale, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, purchase, or barter, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs of such a bird except under the strict terms of a valid permit. The bird species protected by the Act include nearly all species native to the signatory nations and their territories.

Migratory species can fly thousands of miles during migration, often crossing multiple international borders. A large majority of species found in the Pacific Northwest benefit from these treaties and the MBTA, such as Swainson’s Thrush, a ’typical’ migratory songbird that migrates south after breeding and crosses many national boundaries. A look at their breeding range throughout the northwestern United States, Alaska, and across Canada (eBird range map for June) along with their wintering range in Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru illustrates the importance of the Treaty (eBird range map for January). Less typical migrants benefit as well.  For example, the Heermann’s Gull: most of its population breeds on a single island in the Gulf of California and migrates north to winter in the United States. Some species protected by the MBTA are resident, or short-distance migrants. Song Sparrows, for example, may reside their entire lives within a small shrubby patch; they are, nonetheless, protected under the MBTA and the underlying treaties because they belong to a family of birds that we share with our neighboring countries.  Fully 1,027 species of birds currently receive protection under the MBTA.

Cooperation between nations is a fundamental aspect of the bird conservation community’s efforts to protect birds and the habitats they use, not only on the breeding grounds, but on the wintering grounds and in stopover locations as well. For 100 years the Migratory Bird Treaty has helped connect government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, private industry, and international partners to work together conserving, protecting, and managing migratory bird populations and their habitats!  Help us make this collaboration stronger during the next 100 years!

Reference:

Islam, Kamal. 2002. Heermann’s Gull (Larus heermanni), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online:http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/643doi:10.2173/bna.643

Mack, Diane Evans and Wang Yong. 2000. Swainson’s Thrush (Catharus ustulatus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/540doi:10.2173/bna.540