The North American Banding Council (NABC) evaluation and certification process provides an opportunity to test and recognize a bander’s competence through a combination of workshops and written, field-practical, and experiential assessments.
The NABC provides certification at three levels:
- Trainer: A certified bander of exceptional competence and experience who possesses additional skills in teaching and evaluating other banders. Only trainers may evaluate candidates for NABC certification.
- Bander: An individual who is capable of safely, ethically, efficiently and reliably running a banding station.
- Assistant: An individual who is capable of assisting a banding operation without the need for close supervision but who is not yet experienced enough to assume responsibility for a station without a supervisor onsite.
Currently, certification is not a pre-requisite to holding a banding permit. Nevertheless, certification can provide evidence to oneself and to others of a candidate’s qualifications and competence, and it serves as a signal that the candidate holds ethics and competence in high regard. NABC hopes both birds and bird studies will benefit from an increased number of safe, ethical, competent, reliable banders as a result of this program.
Certification Process
Hummingbird Certification materials are currently under development. The co-chairs of the Hummingbird sub-committee are Anthony Hill <anhinga13 AT hotmail.com> and Jessica Pollock <jessicapollock AT boisestate.edu>
Upcoming Certification Sessions
Upcoming sessions are advertised on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NorthAmericanBandingCouncil/
Download an Application for Evaluation by the North American Banding Council:
Application Assistant and Bander Level
Criteria for Exceptional Experienced Banders to be Evaluated as Trainers
NABC Exceptional Trainer Evaluation Criteria
Criteria for NABC Taxon-specific Sub-committees to Establish an Initial Pool of Trainers