Well Done Brainard! I know how much work you put into this all the way up
to adding in the recent Great Shearwater. I for one was happy to help,
which was so little in the overall picture of getting this together.
Hopefully you can now concentrate on getting more state species so that
someone is forced into starting a revision (Not I! I called it)
Ronan O’Carra
Lexington
On Thu, Aug 8, 2019 at 3:59 PM <brainard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
At long last I have been able to put the finishing touches on the 3rd
edition of the *Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Kentucky*. The 2nd
edition was published in 2003 and I had hoped to get another edition out 10
years later. Oh well, better late than never, I guess.
Several members of the KOS board and I discussed the format for this
edition, and we finally settled on a POD (Print on Demand) style. So far,
we have not set in motion having an "e-book" published. I must admit to not
really understanding what an e-book is, but if folks think we should add
that format please email me off listserv to let me know. Demand could help
us make the decision.
The POD format has allowed us to keep the price of the book to only $12.00
plus delivery (despite 100 pages of extra content and 16 years of time
having passed). It will be available from me in person in the short term if
you are in or around Louisville and want to save delivery cost (I hope to
have some delivered before next week's Beckham Bird Club meeting), and we
will have it on sale at the fall KOS meeting at Ky Dam Village in mid-Sept
for $10.00. As of Thursday afternoon I have not yet received the first
shipment though.
However, the book can now be ordered through the KOS web site at the
following link:
http://birdky.org/annotated-checklist-update-2019.html
It should also available wherever books are sold (i.e., everywhere from
your local bookstore to big chains and the internet).
I wanted to thank several individuals who assisted in getting this project
completed. Pam Spaulding created a very nice cover design. Carol Besse
worked with IngramSpark to help set up the process for publishing the POD
format and marketing it to all the larger retailers. Carol, Ronan O'Carra,
Mike Stinson (VA), and Chris Sloan (TN) all provided helpful reviews of the
manuscript that improved content and format.
Mary Yandell assisted in converting my archaic MS Word files to PDF files
for printing. Greg Abernathy (Ky. Natural Lands Trust), Amy Covert (Ky.
Energy and Environment Cabinet), and James Wheat produced maps that
accompany the introduction. Pam Spaulding, Jamie Baker, Jackie Elmore, and
Jim Johnson allowed use of their photographs to illustrate the covers and
for a few images in the interior.
I have to mention the explosion of data now held in Cornell's eBird
database and how it affected putting this edition together. eBird wasn't
really around back in 2003 when the 2nd edition was published. But ... so
many birders are now using it, as well as regularly entering historic
information, that I found it impossible to complete the 3rd edition without
closely reviewing eBird data. This review required special access and
coordination with KY eBird reviewers, particularly Roseanna Denton, who has
served as KY's primary reviewer since inception. Thanks to her and the
Cornell eBird team for assisting me in getting those reviews completed.
Unfortunately, this process required so much time that the work I began in
2018 extended well into 2019. I'm sure that data were entered during this
time that I missed, particularly for species that I reviewed during early
2018. Anyone attempting to assemble a compilation of avian occurrence data
in KY in the future will similarly have to undertake a comprehensive review
of eBird data.
Finally, the book includes reports by hundreds of observers. Without their
contributions to our data set of avifaunal records, there wouldn't be any
information to compile into such a format. Thanks to all who shared their
reports by word of mouth, through the KOS quarterly, *The Kentucky
Warbler*, and Cornell's eBird database.
It isn't a pretty book full of photos, but it was my best effort to
assemble a credible and reliable set of records for KY's now 390 documented
species of birds.
If you buy a copy and happen to find errors or omissions, PLEASE let me
know! I will keep track of such things in case anyone decides to produce a
4th edition (I doubt it will be me!).
I have no idea where record-keeping and compilation of avifaunal records
will go in coming decades, but eBird has probably forever altered this
landscape. I've been saying for a couple of decades that no one will
"re-do" a Mengel's *Birds of Kentucky* ... now I'm not sure anyone will
even put out an updated *Annotated Checklist.*
BPB, Louisville
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