A side note... eBird has been contemplating adding a way to flag birds that you report in your own checklists as "do not count," so that they will not be included in your list totals it generates for ABA reporting. This is not implemented yet, however. Birds like the Hiwassee Hooded Crane that are living in the wild are definitely good for reporting in eBird no matter where they came from, along with all other free-living birds even if they are not ABA-countable. The eastern Whooping Cranes are good for eBird, too (just note please if they were still in the company of their human pilots!). We regional editors will sort out which of these reports will show up on public maps, graphs, lists, etc.; but we definitely want all of them in the database regardless.
Bill Pulliam Hohenwald TN
On Dec 15, 2011, at 5:28 AM, OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx wrote:In a message dated 12/14/2011 10:02:54 P.M. Central Standard Time, hyla514@xxxxxxxxx writes: I need to explain where I've come from before making this iconoclastic and blasphemous comment: I get a little put off sometimes by the religious adherence to ABA counting rules by a lot of birders. I understand that it helps to have standardization, but I see nothing wrong with keeping two versions of my life list - an official ABA list in case I ever need it for a competition or something, and my own personal list.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>First, there is a relatively low percentage of TOS members that belong to ABA or TN-Birds and I'd bet most of those few keep 2 or 3 lists just as yourself and it is no big hassle with all the types of listing software.Standardization just helps keep things in order for those that do report to ABA and should not put a kink in others lists or methods. Yes you religiously have to keep to the ABA rules if you are going to report or if you keep a clean AOU list but you always have YOUR list, free and clear of all rules. As far as the AOU, I stand in awe of the job they do and look forward to each change they mull over and make (not necessarily agreeing;o0 that is the fun part). The only dilemma is what to put on YOUR list which does not have an effect on anyone else. No problem here that I can see.............Jeff R. Wilson / TLBA 6300 Memphis-Arlington Rd. Bartlett, TN. 38135 http://WWW.pbase.com/ol_coot/ What is this feathered thing that lifts my heart to the heavens.
