Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 - Game Birds and Hunted Species

Game Birds and Hunted Species

The migratory bird conventions with Canada and Mexico define "game birds" as those species belonging to the following families:

• Anatidae (swans, geese, and ducks)
• Rallidae (rails, gallinules, and coots)
• Gruidae (cranes)
• Charadriidae (plovers and lapwings)
• Haematopodidae (oystercatchers)
• Recurvirostridae (stilts and avocets)
• Scolopacidae (sandpipers, phalaropes, and allies)
• Columbidae (pigeons and doves).

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which implements the conventions, grants the Secretary of the Interior the authority to establish hunting seasons for any of the migratory game bird species listed above. In actuality, the Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that hunting is appropriate only for those species for which there is a long tradition of hunting, and for which hunting is consistent with their population status and their long-term conservation. It is inconceivable, for example, that we will ever see legalized hunting of plovers, curlews, or the many other species of shorebirds whose populations were devastated by market gunners in the last decades of the 19th century.

Although the Migratory Bird Treaty Act considers some 170 species to be "game birds," less than 60 species are typically hunted each year. The Fish and Wildlife Service publishes migratory game bird regulations in the Federal Register. Those species for which hunting regulations have been established at some point during the past 10 years are designated with an asterisk (*) in the following list. However, such a designation does not necessarily indicate that a given species can be taken legally in your State or locality. For regulations specific to your locality, you should consult with your State's natural resource agency. Source: The list of hunted species was taken primarily from Appendix 2 of the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement: Issuance of Annual Regulations Permitting the Sport Hunting of Migratory Birds (SEIS 88), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service