Dan Victor is doing us the kind favor of forwarding BIRDCHAT messages to
me for my approval to pass on to tweeters, so you're getting twice-winnowed
postings. As Dan and I each have our own biases, this is a select group of
messages indeed. Are any of you tweeters either cheered or offended by
Byron Butler's strong statements? You can also see what you're missing by
not being on BIRDCHAT, but I don't see how *anyone* can handle the volume
of messages on that nationwide list!

>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Thu, 1 Jun 1995 00:16:23 -0400
>From: Byron Butler (GD 1995) <bbutler at MINERVA.CIS.YALE.EDU>
>To: Multiple recipients of list BIRDCHAT <BIRDCHAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU>
>Subject: May-August is dull. ?????!
>
>On Wed, 31 May 1995, [..name deleted...] wrote:
>
>> I can't wait to get through this dull May-August period.
>>
>Spoken like a true lister! :-)
>
>For those who have matured past listing and have developed into
>birdwatchers, this May-August period is one of the most interesting times
>of the year. Territories are established, males are singing full songs,
>male-male combats occur and sometimes this involves female-female combat
>also, pair bonds are made, courtship displays acted out, copulations
>(including extra-pair copulations) occur, nests are built, eggs are laid,
>young develop & hatch, juveniles are fed and feathers develop, fledging
>occurs, birds molt, floaters and immatures move around. During this time
>much ritualized behavior can be witnessed and by the end of this period
>there are roughly twice as many birds as there were during the start,
>many have already begun the southward migration. All this and much more,
>too!
>
>May-August is dull? Only for listers, and it makes my heart heavy with
>sadness that some can be so close to birds without ever realizing or
>appreciating what they really are.
>
>Try birdwatching and enjoy the summer! :-)
>
>Byron K. Butler, Guilford, CT
>=====================
>Date: Thu, 1 Jun 1995 01:01:32 -0400
>From: "Byron Butler (GD 1995)" <bbutler at MINERVA.CIS.YALE.EDU>
>To: Multiple recipients of list BIRDCHAT <BIRDCHAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU>
>Subject: Rarities = birding ???!!
>
>On Wed, 31 May 1995, Macklin Smith wrote:
>
>> I agree with Bob Lewis that looking for rarities is almost a
>> definition of birding. ......[remainder deleted]...........
>
>I'm very surprised to see Macklin make this statement. Most of you will
>recall that I make a very clear distinction between the terms "birder"
>and "birdwatcher." I synonomize birder with lister, while a birdwatcher
>is one who *studies* birds. Macklin has taken exception to my system in
>the past and feels there is no need for the term birdwatcher since we
>already have the term birder, which he feels is all encompassing.
>
>In my view the above "definition" clearly reveals why the term
>"birdwatcher" is so necessary since looking for rarities is at most
>only a very small component of birdwatching and in no way constitutes
>anything like a definition of birdwatching. Moreover, I think the above
>statement is a poor description of birding (=listing), too. While looking
>for rarities is far more important to birding than it is to birdwatching,
>there is a lot more to birding than finding and identifying rare birds.
>Thus, the statement sells birding short also.
>
>We should here keep in mind also that what Bob and Macklin are referring
>to as rare birds are, for the most part, not rare birds at all. Indeed,
>they are usually quite common birds in their normal range. They are
>referred to as rare only because they have been found out of range, and
>possibly also out of habitat. The significance of these birds to
>ornithology is greatly overstated by birders. Yes, new records are made,
>but in general, they are ornithologically meaningless.
>
>Byron K. Butler, Guilford, CT

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416