Public domain photo by Scarlett Howell

USGS’ Bird Banding Lab - US State Centroid - 1960-2010 dataset published

USGS recently published the dataset of the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center’s Bird Banding Lab (BBL) state/province centroid checklist for the US and Canada. 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. This dataset has more than 14 million records for approximately 140 unique taxa.