USGS PWRC - Bird Banding Lab - US 10min Block - 1960-2010

The Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) was established in 1920 to coordinate bird banding activities occurring in the United States and its Territories, a consequence of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act between the United States and Great Britain that was ratified in 1918. Originally a program within the US Biological Survey, it was also associated with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Biological Service before being transferred to the USGS in 1996. Among its many responsibilities, the BBL maintains the bird banding data collected in the United States and its Territories and every report of birds banded in the US that are encountered anywhere in the world. Computerization of the banding records was initiated in 1960 and the BBL annually processes approximately one million new banding records from the US. Banding data are essential for managing harvested migratory bird populations across North America. These data also provide a historical source of information on the status and distribution of birds in the United States and have greatly expanded our knowledge of bird migration patterns across this hemisphere. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (PWRC). This dataset shows species distributions using centroids of 10min blocks.