[obol] Re: How to identify "X" species.... Holistic vs featural recognition
- From: David Irons <llsdirons@xxxxxxx>
- To: OBOL Oregon Birders Online <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 07:30:00 +0000
Russ and Paul et al.,
Russ's comments make a lot of sense. For many birders small calidrids (as a
group) are the avian equivalent of an unfamiliar ethnicity whose members
initially all seem to look alike. It is not de facto racism to struggle with a
group faces that are outside our baseline of contextual experiences. Many in
this community know twin brothers Adrian and Christopher Hinkle. When I first
met them I could not tell them apart despite making a concerted effort to do
so. I felt utterly foolish the first few times I ran into them because I would
have to ask who was who each time. After seeing them dozens of times I came to
be able to recognize them with ease and now I wonder how I ever struggled to
tell them apart.
Two years ago, Ann Nightingale and I co-authored an article entitled "The
Recognition vs. Identification Gap" (see link below). If you replace Russ's
"holistic" with "recognition" and his "featural recognition" with
"identification," we are essentially talking about the same thing.
http://www.birdfellow.com/journal/2011/06/20/the_recognition_vs_identification_gap
The premise of the article is that there is a significant communication gap
between experienced and inexperienced birders when it comes to discussing how
to ID a particular species or group of species. Each of us has a unique set of
contextual birding experiences that serves as the comparative starting point
when we see a bird that we don't recognize. When I try to describe how I
recognize/identify a certain bird to another birder, I end up using language
and comparisons with which I am familiar. However my context and my comparative
language may have no meaning to my audience.
Deconstructing these things and finding objective criteria that both parties
(teacher and student) can see and agree upon is a critical starting point and a
huge challenge for anyone who tries to teach others about birds. I'm at a point
where I recognize virtually every bird that I see, thus I am to some degree out
of touch with the identification process that a less experienced birder is
going through with most of the birds that they encounter. The feedback and
comments that my Western vs. Least Sandpiper ID piece has generated made me
realize that I have underestimated the challenge that this ID question still
presents for many birders. A comparison of the feedback from this article to
the absence of feedback in response to my writings about more complicated
issues, suggests that I need to write about less esoteric ID topics.
I very much enjoy doing this sort of thing and welcome any suggestions any of
you might have for future ID article topics. I have a couple in mind, but you
know better than I what you find confusing.
Dave IronsPortland, OR
> From: paultsullivan@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> To: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> CC: carolk@xxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [obol] Re: How to identify "X" species.... Holistic vs featural
> recognition
> Date: Sun, 18 Aug 2013 23:34:17 -0700
>
> In the context of discussing holistic vs featural recognition as posted by
> Russ Namitz and Dave Irons, I thought I'd repeat a posting I sent 10 years
> ago...
>
> Good birding, evreyone,
>
> Paul Sullivan
>
> ----------------------------
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Paul T. Sullivan" <ptsulliv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "obol" <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2003 8:31 PM
> Subject: Fw: Vrey Intreseting rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy
>
>
> > OBOL:
> >
> > Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in
> > waht
> > oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the
> > frist
> > and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and
> > you
> > can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos
> > not
> > raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
> >
> > Pehrpas tihs rscheearch epxlians how epxrieecned berdirs can rccogenzie a
> > flckeir seen for olny a scoend out of teh croner of tiher eye wihle
> > drvinig,
> > or how Pual Slluvian can rcogenize Laest, Wsteern, and Smeiplamtaed
> > Sadnppiers eevn thugoh he cna't tlel you how old tehy are. All teh
> > nt-ipcky
> > dtaleis in teh mddile arne't taht imopartnt.
> >
> > Good bridnig!
> >
> > Paul T. Sullivan
> >
>
>
> ==================
> Subject: How to identify "X" species....
> Date: Sun Aug 18 2013 19:11 pm
> From: namitzr AT hotmail.com
>
> After reading Dave Irons's informative and instructive post on our two most
> common peeps, I was reminded of a conversation fellow Bird Guide pelagic
> expert Tim Shelmerdine and I had on a recent Holland America cruise. We
> were trying to hone our skills on Pterodroma petrels by cruising out to
> Hawaii & back.
>
> In the middle of pontificating to each other about the binomial nomenclature
> of observed pelagic species, we switched to a quick conversation about the
> Northern Fulmars. We are both intimate with this species, but I was amused
> and surprised how about the mechanics we both used to identify said species.
>
> Actually, the mechanics were similar, but the ORDER was different. In less
> than 2 seconds of observation time, we had cataloged 3-4 characteristics
> that this species should demonstrate: blocky shape, blunt head with thick
> yellowish bill, and stiff arthritic wingbeats, etc. It turns out that we
> both swept through the characteristics by looking at a particular feature
> FIRST, using this as our definitive feature as it were and then confirming
> by using 2-3 secondary features to clinch the ID.
>
> On a slightly related topic, I think that beginning birders use the
> "featural" recognition while experienced observers are able to switch to the
> "holistic" recognition. The phenomenon can be likened to many things,
> including the "cross-race effect" where we have some difficultly processing
> facial differences of other ethnicities that we are not familiar with. As a
> person becomes familiar with said ethnicity, they switch from a facial
> "featural" approach to a "holistic" approach. I experienced this when I
> worked for a summer in the Ecuadorian Amazon with Quechua natives.
>
> Disclaimer: I did not mean to start a conversation about race, but rather
> point out the fascinating way with which our brain processes information for
> recognition.
>
> Good birding,Russ NamitzMedford, OR
>
>
>
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