Bird code systems: The Bird Banding Lab system

The Bird Banding Lab of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service maintains a system of four-letter codes for bird types. Variants of this system have been in informal use since probably the early 1960s. The BBL formalized the system in the late 1960s and has revised it occasionally since.

• Rules for forming BBL codes
• The North American Bird Banding Manual, at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, defines the official BBL codes.
• `A critique of the Bird Banding Lab code system': There are serious problems in using the BBL codes for applications other than banding. Please read this before you consider using the BBL codes.

You can reach the Bird Banding Lab via e-mail at BBL@nbs.gov.

Last updated: 2000/06/01 23:51:04
URL: http://www.nmt.edu/~shipman/z/nom/bbl.html