Re: [cobirds] State Bird Records Committee

These pasted from the Colorado Bird Records Committee page <http://coloradobirdrecords.org/> offer some response to the question:

"The primary purpose is to provide a repository for information regarding the records of rare or unusual birds within the state of Colorado. In order to perform this function, the CBRC solicits, collects, assembles, reviews, renders opinions on, and permanently archives, in the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, all documentation concerning rare and unusual bird records in Colorado."

And

"Birding anecdotes are great fun, but like any oral history, they disappear over time. By providing details of rare bird sightings in an archival documentation, birders contribute to a collective body of knowledge that spans generations.  The intent of the Colorado Bird Records Committee's peer review process is NOT to validate an individual's sighting or personal list, rather it is to establish a standard for which rare bird reports can be used as scientific-quality data."

David Suddjian

Littleton, CO

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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