Re: Conowingo Gull ...MD/DC Records Committee and Proper Venue
Terry Ross (tross@mail.bcpl.lib.md.us)
Tue, 17 Feb 1998 08:10:01 -0500
Jim,
If memory serves, the umpire who said, "It ain't nothing till I call it" was Bill
Klem.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Terry Ross tross@mail.bcpl.lib.md.us Baltimore MD
BALTIMORE BIRD CLUB http://www.bcpl.lib.md.us/~tross/baltbird.html
BACKYARD BIRDING http://www.bcpl.lib.md.us/~tross/by/backyard.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Jlstasz@aol.com wrote:
> Hi Folks!
>
> On 11 February, Mary Gustafson wrote:
>
> "While I appreciate the fact that others have different opinions, this record
> will be reviewed in the appropriate venue, which is the Maryland DC Records
> Committee. Identifications of this magnitude should not be decided on the
> internet or at a bird club meeting. "
>
> I can not disagree more. If I may use something stolen from Arnie Palmer (a
> systematist of Cambrian fossils, not the golfer) who probably stole it from
> Stephen J. Gould (an avid Red Sox Fan who from time-2-time writes about
> Evolution):
>
> "When asked how they make a call, three Umpires replied:
>
> #1 "There are balls and there are strikes, and I call them the best I
> can."
>
> #2 "There are ball and there are strikes, and I call them the way I see
> them"
>
> #3 "There are ball and there are strikes, but they aren't anything
> until I call
> them."
>
> When I go to a ball game, I do not wait for any Umpire to tell me what
> occured.
>
> I also recall something attributed to Confucious: "Remember always that the
> Camel and the Elephant are horses made by Committees." :-)
>
> Greg Miller asked the important question...what are the salient identification
> features? What features are diagnostic? What features are equivocal? Mark
> Hoffman has written a wonderful draft comparing the features and I do not want
> to steal his thunder.
>
> I shall simply restate my opinion that the shape of the dark spots on the wing
> coverts is a *diagnostic* character and *unequivocably* differentiates Common
> Gull (Larus canus canus) from Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis). If the
> dark spots are arrowhead-shaped (V), then the bird is a Ring-billed Gull, if
> the spots are U-shaped, (U), then the bird is a Common Gull. Please
> note....this is diagnostic only if you are left with the species: Common Gull
> (Larus canus canus), Short-billed Gull (Larus canus brachyrhynchus), Kamchatka
> Gull (Larus canus kamchatensis), and Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis). Of
> this group, only Ring-billed has the arrowhead-shaped dark spots in the
> coverts.
>
> Good Birding!
>
> Jim
>
> Jim Stasz
> North Beach, MD
> jlstasz@aol.com
>