[wisb] Re: the Counting Question (Part 2)!
- From: Jesse Ellis <calocitta8@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: wsrohde@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:35:46 -0500
Wayne-
As a researcher, I've used mirrors to peek into magpie-jay nests to
determine nest fates - it's a challenge in itself!
Interestingly, in the World Series of Birding birdathon, which is coming up
quickly, I believe that they have resolved the issue of nest stakeouts, esp.
raptors (which pose an ethical challenge - if many birders come to know of a
single Cooper's Hawk nest, for example, then there will be birders there all
day, waiting for the adults to show, possibly harassing the birds) by
allowing you to simply SEE the nest and count the birds! I have always found
that somewhat strained in terms of bird ID, but it errs (for competitive
birding) on the side of the health of the birds. Now, say I was doing that
birdathon, but had never seen a Cooper's Hawk in the wild... I'd count the
bird for my Big Day total, having seen the nest per the rules for the Big
Day, but personally I wouldn't count Cooper's Hawks on my life list, leading
to a situation where I had birds on my Big Day list that were not on my life
list.
As for your scenario exactly, hmmm... I might "use" the nest to determine if
the birds were present, but then attempt to see some part of the bird itself
from the ground before counting it.
However, I'd probably view a mirror-setup as illegal for a birdathon anyway
- that is, it perhaps shouldn't be set up in the first place, if your only
purpose for having it is to get a view of a particular species on a
birdathon.
Here's another - on a big day, can you use a webcam to determine whether an
adult is on nest and then go to the site and wait for it to pop out? I
honestly now wonder how much teams these days might plug into eBird WHILE
DRIVING or at a brief stop or something to see what's been reported that
day. IIRC, you can receive information from other people but not actively
solicit it yourself, so... where does such eInfo fall?
Jesse Ellis
Madison, W
On Wed, Apr 20, 2011 at 12:12 PM, Wayne & Susie <wsrohde@xxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:
> I forgot one thing I'd intended to use as a scenario...
>
> I wonder how many of us have ever used mirrors to ID birds. I know I have.
> I've looked in my rear view mirror, seen a bird fly by, ID'd it and counted
> it. Many times.
>
> So (with apologies for what might sound like a far-out situation!), what if
> I found a nest high in a tree, discovered young birds in the nest, and
> decided to mount a mirror in the vicinity so that I could monitor the nest
> from the ground? (No, I have not done that ... yet!) Now what if, on a
> Big
> Day Count, and being in a tad of a hurry to get to Horicon, I raced to my
> nest site, took a look through my bins into that grand mirror, found the
> birds (but saw no other birds of the same species that day), and (horrors!)
> dared count those birds!
>
> Is such behavior ethical? (We may indeed ask other questions about such
> behavior!)
>
> I raise what might seem like a silly scenario for illustrative purposes. I
> really do think some aspects of technology may challenge our current
> birding
> rules of the game. I guess we'll see...
>
> Wayne Rohde
> Walworth, WI
>
> ####################
> You received this email because you are subscribed to the Wisconsin Birding
> Network (Wisbirdn).
> To UNSUBSCRIBE or SUBSCRIBE, use the Wisbirdn web interface at:
> //www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn
> To set DIGEST or VACATION modes, use the Wisbirdn web interface at:
> //www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn
> Visit Wisbirdn ARCHIVES at: //www.freelists.org/archives/wisbirdn
>
>
>
--
Jesse Ellis
Post-doctoral Researcher
Dept. of Zoology
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, Dane Co, WI
####################
You received this email because you are subscribed to the Wisconsin Birding
Network (Wisbirdn).
To UNSUBSCRIBE or SUBSCRIBE, use the Wisbirdn web interface at:
//www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn
To set DIGEST or VACATION modes, use the Wisbirdn web interface at:
//www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn
Visit Wisbirdn ARCHIVES at: //www.freelists.org/archives/wisbirdn
Other related posts:
