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 whatme!
I was told. Feel free to correct me, those of you who gave this info to
"blue
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
book". (Thanks, Charlotte, for passing on the blue book to me.)book
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
has VA divided into three areas, the coastal plain; the Piedmont; and thethrough
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
the Maryland Ornithological Society at:email to va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx. To unsubscribe, send email to
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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