FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] Re: Gold Book

[jjfoxfox@xxxxxxxxxxx]

It's funny how the word "avifauna" grows on you after reading it several times. 
It's a gentle word, pleasant and unassuming. 

Thank you for a fascinating account of the published records of avifauna in 
Virginia, Wallace. They are a tribute to the birders who have been doing it all 
this time, and pique 
one's imagination. What would it have been like to roam around Rockbridge 
County 
with Joseph James 
Murray in the 1930's? How many people were looking at birds when Yulee Larner 
first fell in love?

Good stuff, I hope you're gonna be around at the VSO meeting in May since it's 
so close to you.

John Fox
Arlington




 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Betsy True did a good job in explaining the gold book concept.
> 
> There was also a green book in 1952 (author Joseph James Murray)
> a red book in 1979 (Virginia Avifauna Number 2)
> and then the blue book in 1987 (Virginia Avifauna Number 3).
> 
> HOWEVER, the green book by Murray in 1952 WAS NOT Virginia Avifauna Number
> 1.  So, don't make that slip of the tonuge in birding conversations :-)
> 
> Virginia Avifauna Number 1 was published in December 1957 by the VSO and the
> title is "The Birds of Rockbridge County, Virginia" by Joseph James Murray.
> 
> The color references are alias names given by VSO members to each editon.
> You seldom hear much talk about the green book because it is somewhat of a
> collector's item but not a really rare book.  Many birders have not heard
> about the red book.
> 
> The following is a curious piece of history that many Virginia birders might
> like to know:
> 
> In regards to the actual name of the books, Murray used the title
> "A Check-List of The Birds of Virginia" in 1952.  He used the words
> Check-List as two words with a hyphen evidently because that is the way the
> American Ornithologists' Union had used that term since 1886.  It is a
> complete anachronism and has been questioned by the A.O.U. Committee on
> Classification and Nomenclature  more than once.  The committee retains the
> two words with a hyphen for tradition.  The last "check-list" was published
> by A.O.U. in 1998.
> 
> In 1979, the red book came out under the title "Virginia's Birdlife an
> Annotated Checklist" which was published by a 13-member VSO committee
> chaired by YuLee R. Larner.  The hyphen was removed !  Checklist continued
> as one word with the June 1987 blue book edited by Teta Kain.
> 
> The red book (1979) reported to be essentially a revision of J.J. Murray's
> book and was based principally on published and contributed records compiled
> since Murray's booklet.
> 
> The blue book (1987) reported to be the "second edition" of the red book and
> "revised to include published and contributed records since 1978."
> 
> The gold book will be the "third edition" and edited by Stephen Rottenborn
> and Edward Brinkley, according to the last information I saw.
> 
> This "third edition" will NOT be known as  "Virginia Avifauna Number 4."
> 
> "Birds of Prey in Virginia, A History of Specimen Records from 1853 to 1988"
> is Virginia Avaifauna Number 4 and was published in 1990 and authored by
> David Johnston and William Ehmann.
> 
> Virginia Avifauna Number 5 was published in 1993 by authors David Johnston
> and Roger Clapp as "Birds of Prey in Virginia.  An addendum to Specimen
> Records.
> 
> Therefore, "Egg Dates for Virginia Birds" published in 1997 and authored by
> Roger Clapp is Virginia Avifauna Number 6.
> 
> Counting down the Top 10 on this week's hit parade, will the gold book be
> Virginia Avifauna Number 7 ?
> 
> Let's go birding......
> 
> Wallace Coffey
> Bristol, TN
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Betsy True" <betsytrue@xxxxxxx>
> To: "jay hadlock" <jaybirdncarol@xxxxxxx>; <va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2006 3:43 PM
> Subject: [va-bird] Re: Gold Book
> 
> 
> > A number of people have asked me about the gold book, so I'll pass on what
> > I was told.  Feel free to correct me, those of you who gave this info to
> me!
> >
> > The book in question is published by the Virginia Society of Ornithology
> > (VSO).  The last published edition, the third, is titled "Virginia's
> > Birdlife an Annotated Checklist", has a blue cover and is known as the
> "blue
> > book". (Thanks, Charlotte, for passing on the blue book to me.)
> >
> > The book lists the birds officially recognized as having been seen in
> > Virginia, indicates whether they are year round or migrant; the early and
> > late dates for appearance in VA and results from bird counts.  The blue
> book
> > has VA divided into three areas, the coastal plain; the Piedmont; and the
> > Mountains and Valleys.
> >
> > A new updated edition, which will have a gold cover, is due out this year
> > (May?)  It will be available through the VSO at www.virginiabird.net
> >
> > There is a similar book for MD, known as the Yellow Book, available
> through
> > the Maryland Ornithological Society at:
> > http://www.mdbirds.org/publications/yellowbook/yellowbook.html.
> >
> > Hope this helps.
> >
> > Betsy True
> > Alexandria, VA
> >
> > Check out my website:
> > http://www.betsytruedesigns.com
> >
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> >
> 
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