This is a necessary discussion which, in one form or another, I have
been having with other birders lately, including Michael P. I sit on
the B.C. Field Ornithologists Bird Records Committee. I also am the editor
for BC/Yukon region for Audubon Field Notes. To not include a mongo record
in AFN before it has been ruled on by the BRC (always the chronology)
would be pre-judging by me and a conflict of interest. I therefore in future
will append a p.v. (pending verification) to all sightings listed in
AFN of species which are included on the BRC Review List. I rely on the
compilers to filter out the chaff sightings from the wheat and this
works well since I have not and do not expect to receive any of the "flock of
Painted Buntings" stuff. One can argue the merits (standardization, increased
communication) and pitfalls (elitism, lack of acceptability by the
professional ornithological community) of BRCs all day long, but from
my end I have noticed a steady increase in the standard of submitted
documentation for sightings. I attribute this to the proselytizing of the BCFO
and its BRC. The BCFO was able to build on the successes (and failures) of
the local BRCs in Vancouver and Victoria which have been around for much
longer. To me the merits are obvious. The pitfalls will only be overcome if a
structure can be setup which includes and builds on the strengths of the
amateur birder (identification skills, local knowledge) as well as those of the
professional ornithologist ("science" in all its manifestations). I'm sure there
will be much more said on this subject.

,Jack

P.S.: The only way I have found to keep up on the BRC committee
activities around North America is to subscribe to the quarterly
newsletter put out by Anthony White of Bethesda, Maryland. Tony spends a
great deal of time networking with various committees and poring over
journals then summarizes any changes to continental, state or provincial
checklists in the newsletters. He cites sources if you want to follow up on
your own. Cost is $12US annually.
His address is: Anthony W. White
5872 Marbury Road
Bethesda, MD 20817





Jack Bowling
Prince George, BC
CANADA
jcbowling at mindlink.bc.ca