jeff price (through Dennis) wrote,

>I don't think the competition is as bad as you fear. Yes it occurs
> but the extent of it varies from year to year and count to count.

> It does add to the noise of the counts but it is a source of

> variability like everything else. The best solution is to have

> compilers who care about their counts and run them from year to

> year.


what scope is there for coordinating counters and count organizers to
create a common set of goals in doing the CBC and even BBS surveys ?

Shorebird banders in Scotland got together a few years ago to
standardise on how they took biometrics - winglength measurements
(maximum chord) used to vary by as much as 2mm (a huge amount),
depending on who took the measurement. Once everybody was aware of
the subtle variation in the way the measurement was taken, the
measurer bias was eliminated, so that now data from across the
country can be safely compared.

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