Hi All,
I used to band birds regularly and the abbreviations do indeed get
sticky when they lead to similar results on the first try, e.g. Herring
Gull and Heerman's Gull. Not HEGU for either, but HERG and HEEG. In the
CDC code shoveler is NSHO, Cedar Waxwing is CEDW. In most cases taking
the third letter of the first word and only the first from the second
works just fine. This could also be done with Canada Goose and Cackling
Goose (CANG & CACG), although I don't know if this one is official. It
gets worse for the Black-throated Green and Gray warblers. The official
codes for those are: BTNW and BTYW, taking the last letter of the words
that start "gr" in each. Not awfully intuitive. Some others: Barn Owl
and Barred Owl - BNOW & BDOW; and Red-necked Phalarope and Ring-necked
Pheasant - RENP vs. RINP is my solution (The banding code list doesn't
include pheasant, unfortunately). So the codes are useful for
efficiently taking notes, but they are not by any means perfect. Using
them at online birding forums is often controversial. At the least they
should not be used in subject lines and would best be used in the body
of messages only after they have been introduced with the full name,
e.g. Tree Swallow (TRES).
Good birding,
Walter Ellison
Chestertown, MD
Observing Nature is like unwrapping a big pile of presents every time
you take a walk.
On 2/22/2010 4:23 PM, Bob Ringler wrote:
> Harry,
>
> Some alternative abbreviations that I use are CWAX for Cedar Waxwing,
> SHOV for Shoveler, and CACK for Cackling Goose. For the others you
> noted you would probably write out the name of the rarer species anyway.
>
> Bob Ringler
> Eldersburg MD
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Harry Armistead"<>
> To:
> Sent: Monday, February 22, 2010 2:22:33 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
> Subject: [MDOSPREY] Dorchester County& Ferry Neck, February 17-21,
> 2010: lots of Redheads& Bald Eagles.
[Snipped content]
>
> FOUR LETTER ABBREVIATIONS help when one is jotting down notes while in
> the field. The sometimes unorthodox way I do them results in a few
> conflicts with species I’m not likely to see in this region. These
> include CEWA (Cedar Waxing but could be Cerulean Warbler), CAWR
> (Carolina Wren but could be construed as Cactus or Canyon wrens), TRSW
> (Tree Swallow but could be Trumpeter Swan), BTGW (Black-throated Green
> Warbler but could be Black-throated Gray Warbler), NOSH (Northern
> Shoveler vs. Northern Shrike), and, most recently, CAGO (Canada Goose
> but could be Cackling Goose). Best to all. – Harry Armistead,
> Philadelphia.
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