Ethical Standards in Birding:

Protecting Endangered, Threatened, and Rare Species

WBCI Issues Committee

Wm. P. Mueller, Scott Diehl, Karen Etter Hale, Owen D. Boyle, Noel Cutright, Joel A. Trick

“No important change in ethics was ever accomplished without an internal change in our intellectual emphasis, loyalties, affections, and convictions.”

-- Aldo Leopold

As birders, none of us would deliberately do anything to harm the birds we all enjoy and care about so deeply. But if we are not careful, our efforts to view birds may actually cause them harm!  Therefore, as ethical birders, we must be self-regulating and be willing at times to sacrifice seeing that “life” bird or capturing that perfect picture in order to protect Wisconsin’s rarer birds.    

How can we make sure our efforts to see or photograph these birds does them no harm? 

• Always act in ways that do not endanger the welfare of birds and other wildlife.
• Observe all laws, rules, and regulations for public and private birding areas.
• Limit use of recordings and similar methods of attracting birds, especially in heavily birded areas or in known locations of rare birds or those that are easily disturbed.
• Observe and photograph birds without disturbing them in significant ways.
• Avoid chasing or repeatedly flushing birds.
• Minimize adverse effects to the environment by staying on existing roads, trails, and pathways whenever possible.

The above guidelines are excerpted from the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology’s Code of Ethics.  Please view the complete text at http://www.uwgb.edu/birds/wso/ethics.htm.

FAQs about Birding Ethics Related to Endangered*, Threatened, and Rare Species:

“What’s wrong with playing a tape to attract one of these birds?  I’ll be careful and not play the tape too much.”

How much is too much?  Five other people may have come along that day and also played a tape, thinking they were the only ones to do so.  A bird on territory perceives this taped voice as a competitor in their territory, and they may expend time and energy investigating and challenging this “intruder;” time and energy that could have gone into recovering from migration, attracting a mate, nest building, or feeding a mate and/or young.

Please note: Careful use of recordings or other means of attracting birds by experienced, sanctioned (e.g., Wisconsin Society for Ornithology -- WSO) field trip leaders may be acceptable in some situations, though not to disturb endangered or threatened species.  The use of recordings by qualified researchers is yet another exception, but careful regulation of this activity must be part of an officially-accepted research plan.

“If I don’t report the rare, nesting bird I found on my birding network, other birders won’t be able to see and enjoy it.  Isn’t this being selfish?”

No, it’s not.  We should first think of the bird, its well-being, and the potential it has for successfully nesting.  The pressures from additional visitors, even well-meaning ones, could ruin this bird’s chances for nesting successfully or even surviving.  So please use caution when sharing information (e.g., on online birding networks) about the locations of summering or wintering rare, threatened, endangered, or “sensitive” (easily disturbed) species, and when you do so, remind others to follow ethical birding guidelines (ABA, WSO -- see below) when viewing these birds.   Please only share these locations when these birds are viewable under circumstances (e.g., from roads or public hiking trails) that increased birder activity will not disturb the birds.  Remember: You cannot control what happens after you reveal the location of one of these birds, and you may subject the birds to disturbance by others that could jeopardize their nesting success or even their survival!

However, please DO report your findings to the WSO so that your sighting can be entered into Wisconsin’s birding records.  Reporting forms are available from:

Randy Hoffman, WSO Bird Reports Coordinator, 305 Fifth St., Waunakee 53597; phone: 608-849-4502; e-mail: ecurlew@hotmail.com.

“What’s wrong with slipping quietly into a posted area to view a bird?  I’m more careful than the average birder, and wouldn’t disturb anything.”

Besides being illegal (harassment -- even unintentional -- of state- and federally-listed threatened and endangered species is prohibited by state and federal law, and carries penalties), in the case of very sensitive species, such as the Piping Plover, even a single intrusion may be enough to cause them to abandon an area.  Besides, we don’t know what other pressures they may be facing, such as predators, the effects of weather, food availability, and so on.  Your intrusion may be the “straw that broke the camel’s back” and causes nest failure.  And what if everyone felt the same way you do about bypassing protections in order to view a bird?  The protective measures would become meaningless and ineffective.

“Ordinarily I wouldn’t pursue a bird off a trail or approach closely, but isn’t it important to “push the envelope” in order to document the bird”?

No.  Take notes of your observations, get what pictures you can from a distance, but don’t pursue the bird too closely or trespass to further document the bird.

“I saw someone ignore signs and bypass a fence to enter a closed nesting area.  How should I handle this?”

Write down a description of this person and their vehicle, including the license plate number, and immediately report the incident to WDNR law enforcement or wildlife management personnel, or to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 

Wisconsin DNR Poaching Hotline
To access the new cellular poaching hotline number, U.S. Cellular subscribers need only dial the "#" key, followed by "DNR" (#367).  For U.S. Cellular subscribers, calls to the hotline will be free of charge, including the air time to make the call.

Wisconsin DNR Violation Hotline
1-800-TIP-WDNR (1-800-847-9367)
(wildlife, recreational, and environmental violations)

Link to WDNR Service Centers: http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/cs/ServiceCenter/locations.htm

*For a list of Wisconsin’s Threatened and Endangered bird species, see: http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/working_list/taxalists/TandE.asp?mode=detail&Subject=Birds

The following are some specific examples of species and locations in Wisconsin where bird disturbance problems have, or potentially could, arise. This is only a partial list; other species and locations fall in this category:

-Yellow-throated Warbler at Wyalusing State Park (Grant Co.):  Please do not play tapes of their songs or calls and please observe the birds from a respectable distance so as not to disturb any possible nesting activities.

-Worm-eating Warbler in Baxter’s Hollow (Sauk Co.): Please do not play tapes of their songs or calls; please do not flush the birds repeatedly by chasing after them on the wooded hillsides, and do not approach possible nesting locations.

-Northern Goshawk nest sites in the Chequamegon and Nicolet National Forests: Please do not play tapes of their calls, nor approach possible nesting trees.  Please do not reveal nesting locations on online birding networks.  Please do report nesting locations to local WDNR Wildlife Managers (see DNR Service Centers link above).

-Piping Plover at Long Island/Chequamegon Point (Ashland Co.), Seagull Bar (Marinette Co.), Point Beach State Forest (Manitowoc Co.) or anywhere else in WI: Please do not approach these birds nor enter posted areas designed to protect the birds!  Please do report these birds to local WDNR or USFWS wildlife management personnel.  Do report violations of safeguards intended to protect these birds (e.g., people entering closed areas) to WDNR or USFWS personnel.  Piping Plovers are very sensitive to intrusion into their nesting area and are likely to nest only if they perceive that the area is free from disturbance. Therefore, preventing human entry into areas where they are found is essential.

-Barn Owl nest sites anywhere in WI: Please do not play tapes of their calls, approach nesting sites, or report nesting locations on online birding networks.

-Long-eared Owl on winter roosts anywhere in WI: Please do not closely approach these roosting birds, as doing so may cause them to abandon the roost site, which may adversely affect their winter survival.  Please do not report roosting locations on online birding networks; these locations will not be provided by the WSO Hotline.

-Red-shouldered Hawk nest sites anywhere in WI: Please do not play tapes of their calls, approach nesting locations, or reveal specific nest site locations on online birding networks.

-Osprey and Bald Eagle nest sites anywhere in WI: Individuals of both species vary widely in their tolerance to disturbance near their nest site.  In general, please do not approach nesting sites closely.  Observe from a distance so as not to disturb the birds.

-Kirtland’s Warbler summering, or Whooping Crane summering or nesting anywhere in WI:  Please!  Individuals must NOT be disturbed under any circumstances!  Report their location ONLY to WDNR Bureau of Endangered Resources staff or USFWS personnel.

To report locations of endangered birds, please contact: Kim Grveles,
Assistant Zoologist/Ornithologist,  Natural Heritage Inventory,  Bureau of Endangered Resources,  Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, phone: (608) 266-0822; E-mail: kim.grveles@dnr.state.wi.us

To report locations of Federally-listed endangered birds (Whooping Crane, Piping Plover, Kirtland’s Warbler), please contact Joel Trick, U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service,  (920) 866-1737; E-mail: joel_trick@fws.gov

Links to Online Resources

Other codes of birding or bird-related ethics can be found at:

American Birding Association Code of Ethics

http://www.americanbirding.org/abaethics.htm

New Hampshire Audubon - Code of Ethics

http://www.nhaudubon.org/ethics.htm

Tucson Audubon Code of Ethics

http://www.tucsonaudubon.org/fieldtrips/ethics.htm

Nature Photographers’ Ethics

http://www.naturephotographers.net/ethics.html

The authors of this WBCI Issues Committee “Issues Paper” are:

-William P. Mueller - WBCI Issues Committee Chair; WSO Conservation Chair

-Scott Diehl – Wisconsin Humane Society, Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

-Karen Etter Hale - WBCI Chair; Madison Audubon Executive Secretary

-Owen D. Boyle, Bureau of Endangered Resources, WDNR - Southeast Region Ecologist

-Joel A. Trick - U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; WBCI Wetlands and Shorelines Subcommittee Chair

-Noel Cutright –Wisconsin IBA Program Technical Committee Chair, We Energies Senior Ecologist, WSO Historian

We express our gratitude to the following individuals for additional suggestions:

-Professor Wm. Brooks – Ripon College; WBCI Issues Committee member

-Jeff Baughman – President, WSO

-Mark Korducki – WSO

-Marge Gibson, Executive Director, Raptor Education Group, Inc.; WBCI Issues Committee member

-Jane A. Dennis, WSO Secretary; WBCI Issues Committee member

October 2005