On Wed, 26 Jul 1995, Dennis Paulson wrote (on a topic previously explored
by Michael Price and Russell Rogers):

> ...is the publication of bird sightings an effort at crowd pleasing,
> or is it an effort to document as accurately as possible what's going on in
> nature? Where do you compromise if there's some doubt? I would always err
> on the conservative side, even if occasionally a baby bird got thrown out
> with the bath water.

I have appreciated these posts as a birder, but they mean even more to
me as the editor of a newsletter that publishes bird records. The numerous
questions and comments posted by Dennis, Russell, and Michael have rattled
around my head since before I took the helm at WOSNews. I know this subject
probably has come and gone on Tweeters in the past, and many opinions have
been in print, but I'd like to see this discussion continue.

The distinction has already been made about "reports" versus "records",
but as careful birders we should be equally concerned about both. I shared
my concern with Russell about a WOSNews report of a certain Long-tailed
Jaeger; perhaps the report was accurate, but I saw the bird at the same
time as the reporter and was unconvinced that Long-tailed was its
identity. This is a single example of Washington Field Notes containing a
report that probably was not questioned rigorously because of the relative
likelihood of the sighting. I do not want to print reports such as these
if the information may be used later to characterize the distribution,
abundance, or movement patterns of a given species.

So, one question is: How do we guard against errors in the "records"
(that is, non-controversial reports) of more common species?

As much as people (me, for example) enjoy seeing their names or
initials published, bird reports and records, if accurate, would be just
as valid if published anonymously. But I understand that the omniscient
compiler does not exist and reading who reported a particular bird will
affect one's willingness to believe it.

So much to say...so little time...

Scott Richardson
Olympia
richasar at dfw.wa.gov