About EBBA
The EASTERN BIRD BANDING ASSOCIATION, Inc. was founded in 1923:
“… to encourage investigations into the biology and migration of birds by banding
…. to encourage its members and other interested persons in other ornithological studies
…. to encourage the cooperation of its members in the pursuit of such purposes.”
EBBA History
Bird banding in America dates back to John James Audubon, who, in 1803, marked a brood of phoebes with silver wire. The following year, the birds were re-sighted near the area where they originally nested. Several banding schemes became popular, and in 1909, the American Bird Banding Association was formed as part of the Linnaean Society of New York.
In 1920, the Biological Survey (then part of the Fish & Wildlife Service, now part of the U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division) took over the administration of bird banding. Since then, millions of birds have been banded. The Eastern Bird Banding Association was organized in 1923 for the purpose of bringing together those persons interested in banding birds. Originally, the Association published a “Bulletin,” but in 1929 this was discontinued and we joined forces with Northeastern and Inland associations to publish a quarterly journal, Bird Banding. The founders of the Eastern Bird Banding Association were Arthur Allen, Frank Burns, Maunsell S. Crosby, Beecher Bowdish, Howard Cleaves, John Gillespie, John Nichols, Witmer Stone, and Rudyerd Boulton. Carlton M. Herman was the first editor of EBBA NEWS.
Emblem of the Association: The emblem of the Association shall be six birds in silhouette with two passerines, a hawk, a hummingbird, a shorebird, and duck in a circle with the Eastern Bird Banding Association, Inc., 1923 around the edge–displaying the outline of 17 eastern states of the United States of America (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida) and the District of Columbia and six eastern provinces of Canada (Ontario, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador) symbolizing the territory of the Association.
EBBA Bylaws
EBBA Bylaws revised in 2016 (in PDF format)