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
