Bird Banding Laboratory
Science Center Objects
The Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) is an integrated scientific program established in 1920 supporting the collection, archiving, management and dissemination of information from banded and marked birds in North America. This information is used to monitor the status and trends of resident and migratory bird populations. Because birds are good indicators of the health of the environment, the status and trends of bird populations are critical for identifying and understanding many ecological issues and for developing effective science, management and conservation practices.
The BBL, since 1923 and in collaboration with the Bird Banding Office (BBO) of the Canadian Wildlife Service, administer the North American Bird Banding Program (NABBP), which manages more than 77 million archived banding records and more than 5 million records of encounters. In addition, each year approximately 1 million bands are shipped from the BBL to banders in the United States and Canada, and nearly 100,000 band encounter reports are submitted into the BBL systems.
Click here for more information about BBL operations and banding during the novel coronavirus pandemic
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck: banded with federal leg band. (Credit: Ikumi Kayama, MA, Studio Kayama LLC. Limited Use by USGS only)
The U.S. Geological Survey is celebrating 100 years of the Bird Banding Laboratory.
The lab will be doing several events to celebrate the history and accomplishments of our first 100 years. To find out more about the centennial and upcoming events see below:
- Bird Banding Lab, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service—Centennial Presentation
- 100 Years of Service to Migratory Bird Conservation in North America
- USGS Celebrates 100 Years of Bird Banding Lab: A Century of Advancing Avian Conservation Science
- Friends of Patuxent & National Wildlife Federation presents: 100 Years of Bird Banding in America - History of Patuxent’s Bird Banding Lab
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Conservation Connect
- Birdwatchers’ digest
- Bird conservancy of the Rockies
- Federal News network
- BUneke.org
- Arkansas Game & Fish Commission
- Van Buren County Democrat
Please check back here for event updates and resources.
BBL Federal Permit
(Public domain.)
Federal Bird Banding and Marking Permit
Following the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) and its associated Federal regulations (16 U.S.C. 703-712), a Federal Bird Banding and Marking Permit is required to conduct all bird banding and/or marking activities.
- Obtain a federal permit
- Renew your permit
- Modify your permit (including adding new subpermitees)
- Ethics and responsibilities of bird banders
Access to Bander Portal (Public domain.)
If you already have a federal permit or sub-permit to band birds, sign in to the new Bander Portal to do the following:
- View and update your contact information
- View your list of subpermittees, band inventory and banding locations
- Order bands from BBL, request bands transfer and confirm bands as received
- Define access to menu options for your subpermitees
- View tables of valid codes for various banding data fields (e.g. age, sex, etc.) and recommended band sizes by species
- Download your inventory
In the future, data will be submitted through the bander portal, but in the meantime use Bandit (The Information Manager for Banding Operations) to submit data.
Canada Goose with a Neck Collar and Federal Band (Courtesy: David Kacynski)
Reporting a bird with a federal band or auxillary marker
- Report a band at www.reportband.gov
- Obtain your Certificate of Appreciation
- About federal bands
- About auxiliary markers
- Issues reporting? Please email bandreports@usgs.gov
Fredrick C. Lincoln was an accomplished bird biologist and early bird bander (Public domain.)
Learn more about the BBL:
- Why do we band birds?
- Bird Banding at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
- Bird Banding Laboratory: Recent Accomplishments
- The U.S. Geological Survey Bird Banding Laboratory: An Integrated Scientific Program Supporting Research and Conservation of North American Birds By Gregory J. Smith (2013)
- The U.S. Geological Survey Report of the Federal Advisory Committee on the Bird Banding Laboratory By Susan D. Haseltine et al. (2008)
- The North American Bird Banding Program: Into the 21st Century Executive Summary By P.A. Buckley et al. (1995)
- A History of the Bird Banding Laboratory: 1920-2002
- Historical Banding Notes since 1922 (Memos to All Banders)
Bird Banding Laboratory
Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
12100 Beech Forest Road
Laurel, MD 20708
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Year Published: 2013The U.S. Geological Survey Bird Banding Laboratory: an integrated scientific program supporting research and conservation of North American birds
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) was established in 1920 after ratification of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act with the United Kingdom in 1918. During World War II, the BBL was moved from Washington, D.C., to what is now the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (PWRC). The BBL issues permits and bands to permittees...
Smith, Gregory J.Attribution: Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Ecosystems, Region 1: North Atlantic-Appalachian, Bird Banding LaboratoryView CitationThe U.S. Geological Survey Bird Banding Laboratory: an integrated scientific program supporting research and conservation of North American birds; 2013; OFR; 2013-1238; Smith, Gregory J.
Individual quality, survival variation and patterns of phenotypic selection on body condition and timing of nesting in birds
Questions about individual variation in 'quality' and fitness are of great interest to evolutionary and population ecologists. Such variation can be investigated using either a random effects approach or an approach that relies on identifying observable traits that are themselves correlated with fitness components. We used the latter approach...
Blums, P.; Nichols, J. D.; Hines, J. E.; Lindberg, M.; Mednis, A. North American Bird Banding Program
The new Chief will cover the status of key elements of the Bird Banding Laboratory as well as review highlights over the past year. These will include: the upcoming Oracle-based database system, band supply, banding requests, band data requests, Band Manager, the Reward Band program, the I-800-Mexico program, the partnership with Canada's Bird...
Tomosy, M. Abundance and distribution of the common eider in eastern North America during the molting season
Like most other sea ducks, male common eiders (Somateria mollissima) concentrate in large groups to molt following the breeding season. Although Maine conducted surveys in the 1980s, little was known of eider molting sites in Atlantic Canada until recently, when surveys and research conducted in Quebec, Newfoundland, Labrador, Nova Scotia and...
Savard, Jean-Pierre L.; Allen, B.; McAuley, D.; Milton, G.R.; Gililand, S. Frederick C. Lincoln and the formation of the North American bird banding program
Ralph, C. John; Rich, Terrell D.; Tautin, J. One hundred years of bird banding in North America
Ralph, C. John; Rich, Terrell D.; Tautin, J. Assessment of bird populations in a high quality savanna/woodland: a banding approach
Between 1999 and 2004, Save the Dunes Conservation Fund's Miller Woods Bird Banding Program monitored migrating and breeding bird populations within a high quality black oak, dry-mesic sand savanna/woodland with ridge and swale topography. The objectives of this program were to collect consistent and reliable demographic and abundance data on the...
Wilmore, Sandra L.; Glowacki, Gary A.; Grundel, Ralph Geographic variation in survival and migratory tendency among North American Common Mergansers
Movement ecology and demographic parameters for the Common Merganser (Mergus merganser americanus) in North America are poorly known. We used band-recovery data from five locations across North America spanning the years 1938-1998 to examine migratory patterns and estimate survival rates. We examined competing time-invariant, age-graduated models...
Pearce, John M.; Reed, John A.; Flint, Paul L. Limited genetic differentiation among breeding, molting, and wintering groups of the threatened Steller's eider: The role of historic and contemporary factors
Due to declines in the Alaska breeding population, the Steller's eider (Polysticta stelleri) was listed as threatened in North America in 1997. Periodic non-breeding in Russia and Alaska has hampered field-based assessments of behavioral patterns critical to recovery plans, such as levels of breeding site fidelity and movements among three...
Pearce, John M.; Talbot, Sandra L.; Petersen, Margaret R.; Rearick, Jolene R. Atlantic Flyway review: Region IV - Fall 2003
We welcome the Eden Mill station in northeastern Maryland to Region IV this year. With three stations reporting their worst year ever, we really need to be refreshed. After a cool and wet July, August was hot and wet in the east. Temperatures in September remained close to normal, but thanks to tropical storms Henri (6-8 Sep) and Isabel (18 Sep),...
Robbins, Chandler S. Atlantic Flyway review: Region IV - Fall 2003: Patuxent powerline right-of-way (390-0764)
The station was operated on fewer days than usual in 2003, opening a bit later, closing a week early, and missing several good days in September through mid-October, when the manager/lead bander was conducting research on migrating birds in Lower Delmarva. As a result, capture totals for many species are not comparable to other years, and totals...
Dawson, Deanna K. On the estimation of dispersal and movement of birds
The estimation of dispersal and movement is important to evolutionary and population ecologists, as well as to wildlife managers. We review statistical methodology available to estimate movement probabilities. We begin with cases where individual birds can be marked and their movements estimated with the use of multisite capture-recapture...
Kendall, W.L.; Nichols, J. D. Atlantic Flyway review: Region IV - Fall 2003: Robbins Nest, Laurel, MD (390-0765)
The most notable finding at this station in 2003 was the sharp decline in recaptures of previously banded birds and most especially a Crash in the chickadee and titmouse populations. In the autumn of 2001, I recaptured 36 birds banded in previous autumns, but I caught only 24 returns in 2002 and 17 in 2003, a 33% drop each year. In 2002, Tufted...
Robbins, Chandler S.