[TN-Bird] County lists

TN-Birders,

I am pleased to read David Trently's and Stephen Stedman's thoughts on 
county listing.  I concur with what they've written and would like to 
add a few thoughts of my own on the subject.

Although I began keeping daily birds records on January 1, 1994, I did 
not systematically begin entering info in comprehensive county-specific 
ways until about five years ago.  Since then, I have found that my 
knowledge of our region's birds has increased enormously, due in large 
part to the act of keeping county lists and notes.  Here, in no specific 
order, are some of my observations drawn from county listing--

[1] A target of 200 species per county, in East Tennessee at least, is 
sufficient to generate meaningful birding and significant bird records.  
A target higher than 200 can generate significantly more depth.  (200 
might be inappropriately low for West Tennessee, which has the bird-rich 
Mississippi flyway to stock its counties with a greater variety of 
species than we typically get in East Tennessee.)

[2] A target of 200 is likely to require several years for counties 
other than the one in which the birder lives, and even in the birder's 
home county, reaching 200 is a tough goal in only one year. 

[3] To reach 200 species in any county (even the home county), a birder 
has to identify and bird a wide variety of habitats, and targeted 
birding has to be done in all seasons of the year, including especially 
the prime migration windows of April 15-May 15 in spring and August 
25-October 10 in fall. 

[4] Anyone who birds enough in one county to reach a total of 200 
species is bound to find a number of rarities and is certain to make 
some useful observations regarding early dates and late dates for 
migrants, seasonal abundance, habitat variety and abundance, and various 
other things that contribute to our understanding of birds. 

[5] Striving for a high total pushes birders to sharpen their skill at 
identifying birds by ear, since getting a high total as efficiently as 
possible requires familiarity with birds that are seldom seen (night 
birds, marsh birds, and deep woods birds, for instance) and even common 
birds can usually be identified more quickly by their sounds than by our 
seeing them. 

[6] Improvements in ear birding lead the birder to create more accurate 
records regarding abundance, since fewer birds slip by unidentified.

[7] Striving for a high county total can help us shore up gaps in 
Tennessee bird records.  The Migrant, as good as it is, in some ways 
only reflects the fact that birders tend to keep going to the same spots 
over and over, which does provide depth of coverage in those spots but 
which discourages breadth.  There are many Tennessee counties that are 
poorly known, or that are only known from a site or two, or that are 
only known well in one season of the year.

[8] Striving for a high total encourages birders to find legal and 
appropriate ways to bird our little-known private lands--for instance, 
by birding from back roads and other public areas adjoining private 
lands and by developing cooperative relationships with private 
landowners who are interested in learning more about birds and who are 
willing to allow access to their property.  Obviously, there are limits 
to what we can learn about birds on private lands, but we can do more 
than we are doing now.

I'm getting long-winded, so I'll stop here.  I would like to hear what 
others have to say on the subject.

Don Miller
Greeneville, Greene Co., TN

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