Request bird banding and encounter data

The North American Bird Banding Program database holds over 70 million banding records and over 3 million encounters dating from 1908. Birds banded in Canada are most often encountered in the USA, Canada and Mexico but they are regularly encountered in Central and South America, the Caribbean, Greenland and Iceland and occasionally encountered in Russia, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Request data

Banding and encounter data are gathered for the primary purpose of facilitating migratory bird research in North America and are available free of charge upon request, from the Bird Banding Office. Bird banding and encounter data held by the North American Bird Banding Program have been contributed by many co-operators and at considerable public and private expense. Contributors have certain proprietary interests in the data they produce and have a reasonable prior right to analysis and publication of data resulting from their own banding efforts. Users of these data are expected to exhibit professional courtesy and utilize the data within the bounds of the highest scientific integrity.

Download the data request form (Bird_banding_and_encounter_data_request in English or French) or contact the Bird Banding Office for a copy.

Contact

Mailing address:
The Bird Banding Office
Canadian Wildlife Service
1124 Colonel By Drive
Ottawa ON K1A 0H3

Email address: bbo@ec.gc.ca
Telephone number: 613-998-0524