Re: [cobirds] State Bird Records Committee

Mark,

I understand your concerns, but Bird Record Committees have NOT been surpassed by eBird,

and I am a huge supporter of e Bird. e Bird species ID reviewers do great work, but each of them is staunchly

supportive of the CBRC.

Perhaps the current chair of the Colorado Bird Record Committee, Mark Peterson or 

the recent chair, Doug Faulkner, now President of CFO, can take the time to answer your questions

point by point.

In the meantime, I will just say that detailed documentation of any rarity and many more common birds

is absolutely necessary for Colorado to have a "clean" state list, unimpeachable.

Norm Erthal found Colorado's first state record of Hooded Oriole, and he and I (who was with him) prepared

detailed reports to the CBRC, even though there were fine photos. Yes, it was sort of a hassle, but well worth the effort.

I yearn to send the CBRC detailed reports of the next Colorado Wood Stork, Olive Warbler and other birds that require 

documentation. Those would be happy hassles.

And to second guess the 7 or so highly expert committee members' decision about the Baikal Teal is not reasonable. As I recall, the bird

was thought to be a "real female Baikal Teal," but it's "provenance" was the sticking point. Many more Baikal Teal

are kept in aviaries in the US than are thought to have flown here from Lake Baikal.  And there was an aviary 

a short distance from Evergreen. That is just the way I recall it, perhaps not exactly correct. Ditto with the 

Evergreen Rufous-collared Sparrow. Species ID was not questioned, but they are good singers, are

widely kept as cage birds and are not vagrants to the US.

Mark, I'd be glad to chat with you on the phone, as space here is limited. There are marked differences

between e Bird reviews and CRBC reviews. Just look at the issue of Colorado Birds that describes 

the tremendous effort the CBRC did in analyzing the ID of Colorado's only Kelp Gull and it's "wild"

provenance.

Joe Roller

proud CFO member since 1975

On Fri, Apr 29, 2016 at 9:35 AM, 'Mark Obmascik' via Colorado Birds <cobirds@googlegroups.com> wrote:

In an age of Ebird, CObirds, and even Facebook bird ID groups, why do Colorado and other states still have state bird record committees?

After John Ealy found the hooded oriole in his Douglas County backyard, many excellent birders asked to have documentation submitted to the Colorado Bird Records Committee, which decides whether rare-bird reports are legitimate. I submitted, but the process is a hassle. The website crashed, and instructions weren't always clear.

I know this an all-volunteer effort, and money is short, and I'm always in favor of something that increases interest in and knowledge about birds, but what does the committee do that isn't already being done elsewhere in a more convenient way? In my experience, Ebird reviewers do an excellent job of screening entries. (They've found a bunch of my mistakes.) Ebird and CObirds make it easy to add photos. And with its international reach, Facebook allows fast access to ID experts whose yardbirds are our vagrants.

It's also tough for me to forget how the committee decided that Bill Brockner's Baikal teal, seen by me and hundreds others behind the Baskin Robbins in Evergreen a few years back, was not actually a real Baikal teal. 

If there's a good reason to keep submitting to bird records committees, I'd like to hear it.

Good birding.

Mark Obmascik

Denver, CO

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