Well Told Grants

Grants / Department of the Interior / Fish and Wildlife Service

F24AS00017 - Species Conservation Catalyst Fund on Songbird Trade

Closed Closed December 8, 2023 Opportunity F24AS00017

This grant is closed. Who won this program's grants before is below, and similar open grants are at the end of the page. It is in our archive of Fish and Wildlife Service notices from 2023.

Fish and Wildlife Service offered grants of up to $1.0 million (at least $100,000) to the applicants described in the notice. It expected to make $1.4 million in total. Applications closed on December 8, 2023.

From the official notice on Grants.gov, last changed August 4, 2023. Checked November 7, 2026.

Key dates

PostedAugust 2, 2023
DeadlineDecember 8, 2023

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to the applicants described in the notice.

Applicants can be individuals, multi-national secretariats, foreign, national, and local government agencies, non-profit non-governmental organizations, for-profit organizations, and public and private institutions of higher education.

Is this a realistic fit?

What the grant funds

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s mission is to work with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The International Affairs Program delivers on this mission through its technical expertise, international conservation experience, and financial assistance by supporting strategic projects that deliver measurable conservation results for priority species and their habitats around the world. The Combating Wildlife Trafficking Program supports innovative projects to reduce wildlife trafficking. In 2022, the program launched the Species Conservation Catalyst Fund (SCCF) to reduce wildlife trafficking for selected species within the complex social-ecological systems across a species’ trade chain. This Notice of Funding Opportunity launches the SCCF’s third species group, songbirds (suborder Passeri or Oscines, order Passeriformes) native to the Guiana Shield and Caribbean. A distinct market within the widespread caged bird trade of Latin America and the Caribbean is the trade of songbirds for singing competitions. Popular in the Guiana Shield of South America and the Caribbean, this sport consists of “racing” male songbirds to assess which bird can sing a specific song the most in a given time. Evidence suggests that potentially 15 wild bird species native to the Guiana Shield and Caribbean – primarily seed-finches, seedeaters, buntings and grosbeaks – may be experiencing local or range-wide declines due to wild harvest for singing competitions. Current practices of international trade of these songbird species for singing competitions is suspected to be a primary driver of declines, in part because songbirds are typically trafficked with high mortality. This funding opportunity solicits projects to reduce the illegal, unsustainable international trade of native songbirds from the Guiana Shield and Caribbean for singing competitions. Proposals are invited for two broad Objectives: (1) addressing the illegal, unsustainable trade of songbirds or (2) convening and coordinating SCCF Songbird award recipients for projects aimed at meeting Objective 1. Support will be provided for 2–5-year grants and cooperative agreements ranging from $50,000 to $200,000 per year. Please review the full “NOFO Description” file in Related Documents for complete details.

Category: Environment.

Who has won Combating Wildlife Trafficking grants before

From fiscal 2021 to 2025, Combating Wildlife Trafficking (15.679) awarded $11.7 million across 38 grant awards, an average of $307,357 per award.

Largest recipients, fiscal 2021 to 2025
RecipientStateAwardsAmount
Colorado State UniversityColorado2$1.1 million
Wildlife Conservation SocietyNew York4$1.1 million
Fauna & Flora International2$1.1 million
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora1$1.1 million
International Fund for Animal Welfare IncMassachusetts2$1.0 million

Top states: Colorado ($1.2 million), New York ($1.2 million), Massachusetts ($1.0 million), Virginia ($776,121), District of Columbia ($589,411).

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Agencies often post the same opportunity again under a new number, so check the program's notices on Grants.gov and the similar open grants below.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.

Questions people ask

Is F24AS00017 still open?

No. It closed on December 8, 2023.

Who can apply for F24AS00017 - Species Conservation Catalyst Fund on Songbird Trade?

Fish and Wildlife Service accepted applications from the applicants described in the notice. The notice adds further conditions, so read its eligibility section.

What is the deadline for F24AS00017 - Species Conservation Catalyst Fund on Songbird Trade?

Closed December 8, 2023. Applications are no longer accepted; the program's newer notices are on this page when there are any.

How much funding is available?

Awards of up to $1.0 million each. About $1.4 million in total.

Who has won Combating Wildlife Trafficking grants before?

The largest recipients over five fiscal years were Colorado State University, Wildlife Conservation Society, Fauna & Flora International. The program made 38 awards worth $11.7 million in that time.

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