THE DIVISION OF WILDLIFE RESEARCH 



In the calendar year 1964, the main efforts of 

 tlie Division of Wikllife Research were directed 

 toward consolidation of i-e<"ently expanded pro- 

 erams on pesticide-wildlife relations and nuisance- 

 animal control. A modest increase in activities 

 associated with the captive propagation of rare 

 and endangered birds was accommodated, and a 

 great deal of planning laid groundwork for future 

 work with threatened species. 



Tliere was no change in purpose and function of 

 the Division. It continued to sen-e as the wildlife 

 factfinding arm of the Bureau, responsible for 

 research on all wildlife — game and nongame. 

 resident and migiatory, harmful and beneficial. 

 Results of its studies are used by the Bureau and 

 cooperating Federal and State agencies concerned 

 with the provision of more recreational enjoyment 

 for tlie people and more eti'ective but safer control 

 of wildlife injurious to agricultural, industrial, 

 and urban interests. 



Thf rrxearch pwgvnm. — Division research cur- 

 rently involves eight resource or activity pro- 

 grams: AVaterfowl management: other migi-atory 

 birds; upland wildlife, witli emi)hasis on [)ul)lic 

 lands: pesticide-wildlife relations: diseases and 

 parasites; animal control methods: classification, 

 distribution, and life history studies of wild birds 

 and niauunals; and the Cooperali\'e Wildlife 

 Researcli I 'nits. 



In meeting its responsibilities, llie Division co- 

 operates with agencies of the Depart nieiu of the 

 Interior. llie Department of Agriculture, the De- 

 |)ai-tment of Ilealtli, Kducation, and Welfare, and 

 the Department of Defense. In tlie game-bird in- 

 troduction program, tiie AVildJife ^ranagenienl 

 Institute, the Intenuitional Association of (iame. 



Fish, and Consen'ation Commissioners, more than 

 40 State consenation departments, and, of cx)urse, 

 several foreign countries are involved. Research 

 is programed on the native ranges of exotic game 

 birds considered potentially adaptable for release 

 in selected game-deficient or game-depleted areas 

 in the United States. 



One of the oldest of the Division's cooperative 

 programs is that of the Cooperative Wildlife 

 Research Units, supported and administered under 

 terms of a memorandum of understanding signed 

 by officials of the Bureau, the Wildlife Manage- 

 ment Institute, and the land-grant colleges and 

 game and fish departments of the 18 participating 

 States. In addition to the research endeavor, the 

 units facilitate training of qualified graduate stu- 

 tients in the wildlife field, and promote conserva- 

 tion education through publication, demonstration, 

 lecture, and consultation. 



The Division is concerned with other cooperative 

 research programs, including the bird-banding 

 record center at the Migratory Bird Populations 

 Station at Laurel, Md., where banding data on 12 

 million birds of all kinds, re^'overy records on 

 more than 1 million migratory birds, and more 

 llian .'> million cards on the migration and distril)u- 

 tion of Xorth American birds are systematically 

 Hied. In another cooperative operation, banded- 

 bat recoi-ds are file<l and kept current in the Bird 

 and Mammal Laboratories in the Natural History 

 Building of the T'.S. National Museum. 



The world's largest collections of North Ameri- 

 can birds and mannnals are maintained at the 

 Natural History Museum, in cooperation with 

 the Smithsonian In.stitution. These records, to- 

 gether with the professional taxonomic services 



