Bird Conservation Timeline

International

Migratory

Bird Day

(IMBD),

held annually

on the second

Saturday in

May, is an

invitation to

celebrate and

support

migratory bird

conservation.

IMBD Information

web - http://birds.fws.gov/imbd

phone - 703 /358-2318

IMBD Sales

web - http://www.BirdDay.org

phone - 1-866/334-3330

January 2003

Listed below are some of the most notable conservation actions associated with birds.

This chronology focuses on North America, though many of the listed events had

global consequences and many important conservation developments have taken

place in other parts of the world. The timeline begins with the Passenger Pigeon, a

symbol of the need for wildlife protection and the price of failing to conserve.

1869 Passenger Pigeon first protected (Michigan law passed prohibiting firearm

discharge within 1 mile of roosts)

1883 The American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU) formed

1884 AOU Bird Protection Committee drafts a “model law” for protection of

nongame birds

1885 Bureau of Biological Survey, now U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, established

1886 National Audubon Society formed

1887 North America’s first waterfowl refuge established at Last Mountain Lake in

Saskatchewan, Canada

1898 Alfonso Herrera, a Mexican biologist and later the first Director of Mexico’s

Bureau of Biological Studies, publishes a proposal for the protection of useful

birds

1900 Last known wild Passenger Pigeon killed in Ohio, U.S.

First federal law protecting birds passed in the U.S. (Lacey Act prohibits

interstate transport of birds killed in violation of state laws)

1902 The International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies founded to

coordinate the protection and management of North America’s fish and

wildlife

resources

1903 U.S. President

Theodore

Roosevelt

designates Pelican

Island, Florida a

federal refuge,

marking the

beginning of the

National Wildlife

Refuge System

1911 Percy Taverner joins the

Canadian National Museum of

Natural Sciences as its first ornithologist

1914 Last Passenger Pigeon dies in captivity. Species is

now extinct
1916 Great Britain (acting on the behalf of Canada) and the U.S. sign the Migratory Bird Convention, a treaty that

obliges both countries to protect and preserve migratory birds

1917 Canada passes the Migratory Birds Convention Act enacting the Migratory Bird Convention

1918 U.S. passes the Migratory Bird Treaty Act enacting the Migratory Bird Convention

1922 Mexican President Alvaro Obregón designates Isla Guadalupe as Mexico’s first wildlife refuge

1929 U.S. passes Migratory Bird Conservation Act allowing federal government to acquire refuges

1931 Mexican Committee for the Protection of Wild Birds formed

1934 U.S. passes Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act (Duck Stamp Act) providing funds for refuges

1936 Mexico signs Treaty for the Protection of Migratory Birds and Game Animals with the U.S. (amended 1972)

1937 U.S. passes the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (aka Pittman-Robertson Act) funding habitat conservation

via taxes on firearms and ammunition.

Ducks Unlimited founded

1940 Western Hemisphere Convention adopted to protect migratory birds throughout the Americas

1947 Canada’s Dominion Wildlife Service created with responsibility for conservation of birds and terrestrial mammals

1955 Waterfowl Breeding Pairs Survey initiated

1962 Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring

1966 Breeding Bird Survey initiated

1971 Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitats signed in Ramsar, Iraq,

increasing international awareness and conservation of wetlands (now includes 133 nations)

1972 The pesticide DDT banned in the U.S. (Canada soon to follow)

1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) signed (now includes

158 nations).

Canada passes the Wildlife Act, authorizing federal wildlife research, conservation and interpretation activities

and establishment of National Wildlife Areas.

1986 The North American Waterfowl Management Plan is published to strategically and cooperatively conserve

waterfowl habitats

1989 U.S. passes North American

Wetlands Conservation Act

(NAWCA) authorizing grants

for bird habitat conservation

1990 Partners in Flight created,

dedicated to “keeping

common birds common.”

1992 U.S. passes Wild Bird

Conservation Act for

protection of parrots

and other exotic

birds

2000 U.S. passes

Neotropical

Migratory Bird

Conservation

Act