ABSTRACT
Arrangements for conserving North American wild bird populations, including regulation of hunting practices in the case of some species, evolved gradually during the twentieth century. A concern with mounting threats to bird species and habitats forms a common thread through many of the complex governance activities. Aboriginal hunting rights, based on the spiritual as well as the material value of harvested species, proved a particularly difficult obstacle for the evolution of the migratory birds system. The main work is based on activities undertaken by each of the countries’ government wildlife agencies, with in practice a tilt towards focusing on questions arising from endangered-species lists and recovery programmes. The many inter-governmental and multi-actor conservation frameworks that characterize bird conservation efforts in North America occupy an uncertain ground on the spectrum between autonomous actions on one hand, and genuinely continent-wide integration on the other. Bird conservation issues are embedded, moreover, in governance frameworks that are shaped by larger political and economic contexts.
