Folks,
A number of people who read these listservs (OBOL,COBOL, etc.) have come to
birds and birding in more recent times. A number of people have come to it
via the web and may be unfamiliar with listing.
As we get interested in birds it often happens that we begin to keep track
of the species we have seen. We make checkmarks on a printed list, log
species in a notebook, or enter them in a digital repository.
We build a list of the all the birds we've seen in our life, our "life
list." Then some birders keep track of how many species we've seen in their
county (county list), in Oregon (state list), in North America north of
Mexico (ABA list).
More recently folks have begun to track how many species they find in a
local 15-mile diameter circle (circle list), or how many they find without
driving a vehicle (motorless list). Some folks keep track of how many
species they have photographed in Oregon in their life.
Some folks keep track of how many they've seen in these various categories
EACH YEAR. These are called "year lists."
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Oregon listing
In 1980 Oregon birders began to report their Listing Results at the end of
each year to a compiler who pulled the numbers together for publication in
the journal Oregon Birds. For each category participants report HOW MANY
species they've seen, not a list of WHICH SPECIES they've seen. The Listing
Results were compiled by Jim Carlson for 1980, Steve Summers for 1981-1993,
Jim Johnson for 1994-1998, and Jamie Simmons for 1999-2007. I have been the
compiler since 2008.
The results for 1980 showed that the birder with the longest list had seen
376 species in Oregon, with 30 people reporting. There were no reports from
6 counties. Jim Carlson wrote:
"County listing can provide much needed information for distributional
studies of the birds of Oregon both because birders keep better records of
where sightings were made and because more time may be spent in
out-of-the-way areas."
By 1982 sixty-one people reported their numbers. Jeff Gilligan broke the
400 mark for an Oregon life list. Only 3 counties had no reports.
In 1986 Dennis Rogers and Barb Combs became the first people to record 100
species in each of Oregon's 36 counties.
In 2011 Russ Namitz set a new Oregon year list record of 381 species.
In 2014 Paul Sullivan became the first person to record 200 species in each
of Oregon's 36 counties.
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Caveat
You may hear voices that dismiss listing as obsessive-compulsive behavior.
You may hear voices who announce that they don't chase rarities, waste gas,
etc. You may hear voices that scold listers as people who put birds at risk
in their quest for new species. Of course, in any human enterprise there
are some folks who push boundaries. We all have to live with that. It
doesn't mean we have to stop following our enthusiasm.
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Listing is voluntary; it's a kind of game. You don't have to do it to love
birds. However, if you care to join us, you are welcome to share the fun.
Last year, 121 people sent in results. See
http://www.orbirds.org/listing.html
You are invited to submit your listing numbers for publication on the Oregon
Birding Association website. I will post a separate announcement about HOW
you can submit your listing numbers for 2014 and begin taking submissions.
I see this as a party where we can get together and celebrate our
enthusiasm.
Good birding, everyone,
Paul T. Sullivan
(503) 472-5306
paultsullivan@xxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:paultsullivan@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
