Hi Tyler,

The topic of domestics in eBird, and specifically Rock Pigeons (which is
what your birds are), came up recently amongst eBird techies. I'm going to
copy what Marshall Iliff wrote, as I think it answers your question well.
I'm posting it to MDOsprey, since I'm sure many other people have thought
about this issue in Maryland.

From Marshall:

"The "domestic type" categories are really intended for those birds with
domestic phenotypes that have gone feral. In other words, these are
essentially RECOGNIZABLE forms like our subspecies groups, which we call
identifiable subspecific forms (issf). This means that the "domestic"
categories that we have are all meant to refer to potentially wild and
reproducing populations, with recognizable domestic ancestry, that are free
flying and potentially reproducing. They also are, essentially by
definition, not "countable", so eBird does not include these in your lists.

However, as with many things, the use of these options is not clean cut.
Some birds kept domestically look essentially like the wild type. Some
escaped domestic types occur so widely that most birders ignore the fact
that they are domestic phenotypes (i.e., a feral population). For example,
most Rock Pigeons are not of the wild phenotype, but few eBirders make this
distinction. In the US, it is probably safe to assume that any report
includes "domestic types", I count myself among those that does not draw a
distinction between these and who does "count" Rock Pigeons on my lists. If
traveling in the Old World, among native and non-native pigeons, I might
use this, however."

Rob Ostrowski
Crofton, MD



On Thu, Mar 1, 2012 at 8:52 AM, James Tyler Bell <>wrote:

> Just thought I'd post a negative update on the Greater White-fronted Goose
> in Solomons. Since I drive through there twice a day on weekdays, it's
> quite easy to scan the field in the morning as I'm driving over the bridge.
> It's a minor detour under the bridge coming home. I haven't seen any geese
> of any variety there since Friday which was the last day that I saw the
> GWFG there.
>
> As for the mystery doves in Prince Frederick, now that I know that they
> like to hang out in the G of the BIG K sign at Kmart, I've seen them there
> daily this week. Once they were perched on a dormer roof near the sign.
> Still not exactly clear what species they are but they appear to be Rock
> Pigeon selected for whiteness. I haven't figured out how to enter them on
> eBird since they don't really seem to be Rock Pigeon (domestic). The only
> reason that I'm interested in putting them into eBird is in the eventuality
> that they breed and create a population of white doves in PF. Any ideas?
> Here's a link to a reasonably clear photo:
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/8671193@N08/6927088007/in/photostream
>
> Tyler Bell
> 
> California, Maryland
>
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