Somebody inquired about "those four-letter codes" and asked that a list be
posted. Although it is considered by many to be inappropriate to use the codes
in messages, unless they are used for repeated names after an initial full
description, I'll include the logic for the codes, which should be more helpful
than just a list.

Jerry Blinn

(************)

The codes used are those of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bird Banding
Laboratory, and are used by all licensed banders.

(If your reader does not use a fixed pitch font, the "codes" below will not line
up properly with the bird names -- but you should be able to guess where they
belong.)

Banding Code construction logic

If the bird name is a single word, the code consists of the first four letters
of the word:
Merlin = merl
merl

If the bird name is two words, use the first two letters of the first word,
followed by the first two letters of the second word:
Boreal Chickadee = boch
bo ch

If the bird name is three words, use the first letter of the first word, the
first letter of the second word, and the first two letters of the third word:
Cape May Warbler = cmwa
c m wa

If the bird name is three words, and two of the words are a hyphenated pair, you
use the first letters of each of the hyphenated words, and the first two letters
of the unhyphenated word:
Red-shouldered Hawk = rsha
r s ha
Eastern Screech-Owl = easo
ea s o

How do you know if a name has hyphenated words? If there is an adjective
describing a feature of a bird, there is invariably a hyphen joining those two
words, such as: Yellow-bellied, Black-headed, Rough-legged, Fork-tailed. The
second example, Eastern Screech-Owl, above, is restricted to those unusual
species that have a hyphenated common "genus" name, such as: Night-Heron.

If the bird name is four words, use the first letter of each word:
Great Black-backed Gull = gbbg
g b b g


* ----||| Non-standard Codes |||----
*
* The rationale for the standard codes is covered above.
*
* The number of non-standard codes is relatively small.
* Of the 980 codes, 106 are non-standard in construction,
* and most of those are unusual birds.
*
* The following is the rationale for the non-standard codes
* that were established because of conflicts created by similar
* bird names.
*
* |||| Recent taxonomic changes make some of these obsolete. ||||
*
* In the case of code conflict between two normally occurring
* N.A. species, a "three and one rule" has been applied where
* the first three letters of the first word are combined with
* the first letter of the last word. An example of a conflict
* for the code "basp":
*
* "bacs bachman's sparrow"
* "bais baird's sparrow"
*
* However, where the code conflict is between a normally
* occurring N.A. species and a vagrant, the normal code is
* retained for the normally occurring species, and the
* "three and one" rule is applied to the vagrant. Example:
*
* "brsp brewer's sparrow"
* "banp band-rumped storm-petrel"
*
* A small number of code conflicts are not solved by the above
* rules, or create additional code conflicts when the rules are
* applied. For those species, code combinations were selected
* to make the species as recognizable as possible.
*
* "btyw black-throated gray warbler"
* "btnw black-throated green warbler"
* "blbw blackburnian warbler"
* "blpw blackpoll warbler"
*
* "bluh blue-throated hummingbird"
* "btlh broad-tailed hummingbird"
* "bblh broad-billed hummingbird"
* "bufh buff-bellied hummingbird"
*
* "grak gray kingbird"
* "gkis great kiskadee"
* "gkin green kingfisher"
*
* "gtbh great blue heron"
* "gnbh green-backed heron"
*
* "lhsp leach's storm-petrel"
* "ltsp least storm-petrel"
*
* The following are all the non-standard band codes :

bahs - bahama swallow hawa - hawaiian hawk
bais - baird's sparrow labd - labrador duck
banp - band-rumped storm-petrel lafl - la sagra's flycatcher
barr - barred owl lanw - lanceolated warbler
barg - bar-tailed godwit larb - lark bunting
bars - barn swallow lazb - lazuli bunting
bblh - broad-billed hummingbird left - lesser frigatebird
blag - black-tailed godwit lhsp - leach's storm-petrel
blbw - blackburnian warbler ltsp - least storm-petrel
bgro - blue grouse mgwa - macgillivray's warbler
blpw - blackpoll warbler mkbu - mckay's bunting
bluh - blue-throated hummingbird monp - mongolian plover
brac - brandt's cormorant mtqu - montezuma quail
brng - barnacle goose moup - mountain plover
broc - bronzed cowbird noho - northern hawk owl
bros - broad-billed sandpiper nohb - northern hobby
bris - british storm-petrel nsho - northern shoveler
brwx - black-rumped waxbill nshr - northern shrike
btlh - broad-tailed hummingbird olco - neotropic cormorant
btnw - black-throated green warbler oraw - orange-cheeked waxbill
btyw - black-throated gray warbler ouou - ou
bufh - buff-bellied hummingbird praw - prairie warbler
bufs - buff-breasted sandpiper prow - prothonotary warbler
buls - buller's shearwater rebo - red-footed booby
bwag - black-backed wagtail riph - ring-necked pheasant
cacw - cactus wren rost - roseate tern
canw - canyon wren royt - royal tern
carc - caribbean coot rsfl - northern flicker
carw - carolina wren sags - sage sparrow
calt - california towhee savs - savannah sparrow
cant - canyon towhee sbdd - short-billed dowitcher
cedw - cedar waxwing shas - sharp-tailed sandpiper
cerw - cerulean warbler shos - short-tailed shearwater
comc - common crane slar - slate-throated redstart
corc - corn crake spoo - spot-breasted oriole
comg - common greenshank spos - spoonbill sandpiper
colw - colima warbler stro - streak-backed oriole
conw - connecticut warbler strs - streaked shearwater
comp - common peafowl tres - tree swallow
cpoc - common pochard trus - trumpeter swan
cwwi - chuck-will's-widow whip - white-cheeked pintail
grem - green-breasted mango whos - whooper swan
gkin - green kingfisher wpwi - whip-poor-will
gkis - great kiskadee ysfl - northern flicker
gnbh - green-backed heron ywag - yellow wagtail
golw - golden-crowned warbler zebd - zebra dove
graj - gray jay zend - zenaida dove
grak - gray kingbird
grat - gray-backed tern
graw - gray wagtail
gref - greater flamingo
grej - green jay
graf - gray francolin
gtbh - great blue heron
hard - harlequin duck
hawd - hawaiian duck
hcro - hawaiian crow
heeg - heermann's gull
herg - herring gull


E-mail from: Jerry Blinn, 05-Feb-1997