Migratory Bird Treaty Act Conference
Lewis and Clark Law SchoolFall 2011
Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918
Unless and except as permitted by regulations made as hereinafter provided in sections 703 to 711 of this title, it shall be unlawful at any time, by any means or in any manner, to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture, or kill, possess, offer for sale, sell, offer to barter, barter, offer topurchase, purchase, deliver for shipment, ship export, import, cause to be shipped, exported, or imported, deliver for transportation, transport or cause to be transported, carry or cause to be carried, or receive for shipment, transportation, carriage, or export, any migratory bird, any part, nest, or egg of any such bird, or any product, whether or not manufactured, which consists, or is composed in whole or part, of any such bird or any part, nest, or egg thereof, included in the terms ofthe conventions between the United States and Great Britain for the protection of migratory birds concluded August 16, 1916…
“The high purpose of the high contracting parties in the Migratory Bird Treaty to protect these feathered friends of mankind against extermination might be utterly defeated by a narrow construction of the intent of Congress….Mal prohibita statutes without enforceable penalties would utterly fail of their beneficent purpose…The deduction is plain that Congress deliberately omitted scienter as an essential ingredient of the minor offense under consideration…This concept is logical in the light of the known practicality of the National Legislature in its enactments in support of the Migratory Bird Treaty. Congress clearly intended to make real the protection against the holocaustic slaughter of migratory birds.”
US v Reese (1944) District Court of Tennessee
State of the Birds-Continental United States
# Birds Listed Under MBTA 836# Species Listed as T & E 78# Species on List of Conservation Concern 144
# Total Birds U.S.-Breeding ~10 Billion# Total Birds U.S.-Migratory ~20 Billion
# Birds Killed/ Year Building Collisions 97-976 Million# Birds Killed/ Year Communications Towers 5-50 Million# Birds Killed/ Year Transmission Lines 174 Million# Birds Killed/ Year Electrocutions 10s of Thousands# Birds Killed/ Year Cars 60 Million# Birds Killed/ Year Wind Turbines 33,000# Birds Killed/ Year Poisoning 72 Million# Birds Killed/ Year Oil Spills Hundreds of Thousands# Birds Killed/ Year Wastewater Pits 2 Million# Birds Killed/ Year Cats Hundreds of Millions# Birds Killed/ Year Bycatch Tens of Thousands-Hundreds of Thousands
Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service
5500
1000 1000 800 700 70025 <1
Building
s & W
indow
s
Cats
Other
High Ten
sion Li
nesVeh
icles
Pestic
ides
Communica
tion To
wersWind t
urbin
es
Data source: Erickson et al., 2002, Summary of Anthropogenic Causes of Bird Mortality
(c) James Davis© James Davis
Jeri Bockler
Kenneth Herdy © 2009
Audubon Wildlife Care CenterCauses of Injury 1987-2006
23%Other
1%Poison
1%Gunshot
2%Habitat Destruction
3%Dog Caught
5%Hit window
6%Orphaned9%Hit by Car
12%Human Interference
20%Unknown
21%Cat Caught
% of IntakesCause of injury
Roller Pigeon Cases 2007
Hey Scott,Which reminds me of a story. A few years ago the city of Portland decided it was time to paint the St Johns Bridge in the process of prepping the bridge they had discovered a pair of Falcons that took up residency on the bridge. In futher investigating they found two chicks in a nest on one of the highest cross beams on the bridge at the nesting site. They had a plan as to what to do with them to get them to maturity. Over the river in Ridgefield Washington the tax payers supported a bill to build a hack site on the wildlife refuge area where many song birds , ducks, whooping cranes etc would feed. This would be the ideal location to get the young falcons situated and learn to hunt. Well low and behold just across the street from the wildlife refuge lives a roller flyer and when the young became airbourne they found alot of led in the air space across the street where the rollers were flying LOL!! I laughed and laughed when I heard this story because of all the pain staking measures they took to get these birds to adolescence and than to have somone take them out simply was bliss!! I think the odds are against us guys even if we all could shoot but let me leave you with this. When and if you do use the 3- S system shoot, shovel and shutup!
Wild Bird Conservation Act“A Nickel for the Birds!”Wild Bird Conservation Act
“A Nickel for the Birds”
We need your support!
Steve Berliner © 2010
“The oldest task in human history is to live on a piece of land without
spoiling it.”
--Aldo Leopold--
