The Ornithological Council is an association of ornithological organisations based in the Americas involved in bird study and conservation. It was established by Richard C. Banks and incorporated in Washington, D.C. in 1992 as a nonprofit organization. Its original members comprised the American Ornithologists' Union, Association of Field Ornithologists, Colonial Waterbirds Society (now the Waterbird Society), Cooper Ornithological Society, Pacific Seabird Group, Raptor Research Foundation and Wilson Ornithological Society. Since then they have been joined by CIPAMEX, the Neotropical Ornithological Society, the Society of Canadian Ornithologists and the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds.