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Re: Ravens (of a lunatic mind ...)

From:

Phil Davis

Reply-To:

Phil Davis

Date:

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 15:51:45 -0500

Hi Pat:

Thanks for your question ...

There are checks and balances built in to the process of publishing bird 
sightings and recording them for posterity. From 150 years of noting bird 
patterns of arrivals, departures, and sightings of vagrants and dispersing 
birds, the people that study the avifanuna of the region have a pretty good 
idea of what is "normal" and what is "unusual." When something "unusual" is 
reported, the editor of the quarterly Mid-Atlantic Regional Report 
(published in the American Birding Association's journal, North American 
Birds) has to make a decision as to whether to publish the sighting as 
being "valid." Why are some sightings "not valid"? For all the reasons you 
might consider, and more; the bird may have not been seen well enough (bad 
lighting, too briefly, from a moving car, in a pouring rain storm, etc.); 
or the observer may not be very (or at all) familiar with the species and 
did not know such things as to check the undertail pattern (a part of the 
process of separating a Eurasian Collared-Dove from a Ringed Turtle-Dove); 
or maybe a diagnostic vocalization was not heard or noted (part of the 
process of separating an Ash-throated Flycatcher from a wayward Nutting's 
Flycatcher). Unusual sightings should be validated and scientifically 
challenged before being published in the public record, as the 
ornithological community reads and relies on these accounts. The editor of 
the report, "The Season" also deals with these same questions in publishing 
this quarterly report in the Maryland Ornithological Society's (MOS) 
journal, Maryland Birdlife.

The MOS has established a standing committee, the MD/DC Records Committee, 
to review rare and unusual sightings and keep track of such records and to 
publish the Official List of the Birds of MD (and DC). This committee, 
basically serves the same function as the seasonal report editors, however, 
the MD/DCRC substitutes a committee of nine people for a editor of one 
person, has well-defined and drawn-out processes and procedures for 
reviewing and accepting records, and has no publication time lines to deal 
with (sometimes all documentation for sightings is not provided until years 
(!) after the event). Most people agree that most important function of the 
committee is not it's decisions, but the fact that it achieves all sighting 
documentation and this information is available to current and future 
researchers who may be investigating or working on ornithological projects.

Another key point, is that a record that is "not accepted" by the season 
editors or the records committee, does not mean that the observation was 
not valid; ninety percent of the time, it's just a question of the detail 
(or lack thereof) of the documentation submitted. We use the "100 year 
rule" ... will someone 100 years from now be able to read the documentation 
of a record and arrive at the same conclusion? If you think the process of 
documenting a sighting is intimidating, don't! Most people agree that going 
through this process a few times will sharpen your senses of observations 
and make you a better birder.

The MD/DCRC has established a "review list" of species that it reviews for 
the record. The lists (one for MD and one for DC) can be found on our 
MD/DCRC web pages here ...

         http://www.mdbirds.org/mddcrc/rcindex.html

This is where the raven is listed (category 4E). (Remember, this is going 
to change to include Montgomery County in a week or two).

One more note ... the seasonal editors or the records committee are not 
"list police." Even if a record is not accepted, that does not mean that 
you did not see the bird nor that you cannot count the sighting on your own 
personal list!

For more information on this process, please feel free to pursue other 
documents on our web pages. There is a write-up on our web pages that is 
especially relevant called background on "Non-Accepted Reports." Even 
though it approaches issues from the "negative" side, I think you should 
still find it enlightening.

Long answer, but I hope this helps.

Thanks for the great question!

Phil


At 10:41 03/20/2005, you wrote:
>Phil, I am new enough to all this that I don't know the drill at all.
>What does "reviewable" mean?
>
>At 07:05 PM 3/19/2005, you wrote:
>>MD Osprey:
>>
>>I really hate to do this, but ...
>>
>>At the recent Annual Meeting of the MD/DC Records Committee, we changed 
>>the MD Review List criteria for Common Ravens. The old criteria was that 
>>this species was reviewable south and east of Frederick County. Since we 
>>have had a number of reports lately in northern Montgomery County, which 
>>is quite near their breeding range, we changed the criteria to now read, 
>>"South and east of Frederick/Montgomery County." Which means ... you 
>>guessed it ... ravens in Charles and Carroll Counties are reviewable. ... 
>>and you know the drill ...
>>
>>Reports are welcome ... suggestions/guidelines for submission of written 
>>reports can be found on the MD/DCRC web pages ... ya da ya da ...
>>
>>Hey ... don't shoot the messenger!!!
>>
>>The new updates to the Review Lists and some other updated data products 
>>will be published on the MD/DCRC web pages soon (within the next week or 
>>so). I'll advise you when they go up.
>>
>>Thanks!
>>
>>Phil
>
>--Pat
>
>Pat Valdata, Elkton, MD | 
>"The natural function of the wing is to soar upwards
>and carry that which is heavy up to the place where dwells the race of gods.
>More than any other thing that pertains to the body
>it partakes of the nature of the divine." --Plato
>
>
>
>
>

===================================================
Phil Davis, Secretary
MD/DC Records Committee
2549 Vale Court
Davidsonville, Maryland  21035     USA
301-261-0184
mailto:[log in to unmask]

MD/DCRC Web site:  http://www.MDBirds.org/mddcrc/rcindex.html
===================================================