Hearing counts if you want it to for your personal records. It is your
birding history, after all. If you are volunteering for something remotely
scholarly, the protocols set up by the people doing the research would
guide every step of your recordkeeping. Examples of that kind of data
gathering would be VABBA2, USGS breeding bird survey routes, CCB nightjar
surveys, grassland bird surveys for an entity like SCBI, and Audubon
Christmas Bird Counts. All have their own unique structure.
There have in the past in some places been instances where a bird would be
hounded to death so someone could see it or get an amazing photo, so that
was probably a factor in the decision as to why hearing counts (sort of)
these days for listing purposes in some formats outside your personal
records. You can probably google some reading on the topic while I'm doing
taxes. :-)
There are a number of resources available these days both on and offline
for learning all the sounds birds make, and also for learning all the fine
points of visual ID, but now that many people have nice cameras there does
often seem to be a "pics or it didn't happen" atmosphere prevailing. That
is a little sad to see, but it's probably too late to unring that bell.
Very frustrating when it's dark, the weather is bad, the bird isn't posing
for us, or it stops singing before you can get that new phone app taping
it, but it is what it is. We don't live in a time when we will collect the
bird to study it, not everyone wants or can afford the equipment to get
photos or tapes, and personally I'm quite happy not to harass a heard-only
bird if I can figure it out by ear. In some formats it helps to understand
ahead of time that a bird encounter won't be believed without a photo, and
quite a few birders have already made their peace with that.
Umm, you gonna atlas those owls? :-)
Jan
On Mar 1, 2017 12:06 PM, "Zwicky, Eric" <ezwicky2@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Thanks Lisa. I don't do Ebird or keep a list, I just enjoy seeing and
hearing new birds. But on the other hand, it's nice to say I "spotted" a
Barred Owl!
Eric
On 3/1/2017 11:54 AM, Lisa Mease wrote:
What counts as a "sighting" is up to you (such a helpful answer, huh?
;D). Some birders won't add a bird to a list until they've photographed
it, even if they hear it. Other birders count birds they've seen
through binoculars or in photos. And others still count just hearing a
bird as a "sighting". When I first
time, I've become a mix of all three. I'm comfortable adding a speciesva-richmond-general-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject
with completely unambiguous calls/songs (Great Horned Owl,
Chuck-wills-widow) to my Life List even if I don't see them now. When I
go out birding, for the purposes of eBird, I'll count common species I
hear but don't see, I'll use my binoculars most of the time, but if it's
something I can't ID right away, I take a photo or make a recording.
-Lisa
-----
the hardest thing is rendering a moment moving too fast to endure. --
incubus
*GET GIRLS OUTDOORS <https://www.facebook.com/GetGirlsOutdoors/> *
*The Real Journeys Are Outside.*
Archery ~ Canoe ~ Ropes Course ~ 8 Basic Skills
Level II First Aid ~ Activity Planning ~ Trip Partner
On Wed, Mar 1, 2017 at 11:29 AM, Zwicky, Eric <ezwicky2@xxxxxxxxx
<mailto:ezwicky2@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Hi all, third question from me, this one regarding a sighting.
Almost every night I hear a barred owl in the alley behind the
house. A couple evenings ago I went out with my binoculars, still
with a bit of faint light in the Western sky, and was able to find
him. All I could make out was his silhouette through the branches
against the faint sky, but I saw him move his head so I know it
wasn't just a clump of branches or whatever.
Does that count as a "sighting"? I don't keep a life list or
anything, so it's not critical, it just got me curious about the
criteria.
Thanks,
Eric
You are subscribed to VA-Richmond-General. To unsubscribe, send email
to
va-richmond-general-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:va-richmond-general-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> with
'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. To adjust other settings
(vacation, digest, etc.) please visit,
//www.freelists.org/list/va-richmond-general
<//www.freelists.org/list/va-richmond-general>.
You are subscribed to VA-Richmond-General. To unsubscribe, send email to
