Otto...welcome aboard the Zone. A lot of great folks and topics here, and I know you'll fit right in with us crazy birds here!
Here's a couple more links for 'ya:
This one covers the Migratory Birds program for the US Fish & Wildlife Service, one of the world's leading conservation stewards.
Division of Migratory Bird Management Home Page, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
And this one isn't specifically birds, but many birds are of course protected in the Endangered Species Act, also governed by the US Fish & Wildlife Service
Fish and Wildlife Service