Subject: Re: Plumage terminology
Date: Jul 12 11:23:27 1997
From: "Bruce Moorhead " - bruceb at olypen.com


I suspect that a circling, underlying problem in terming bird plumages
"basic" or "alternate" (vs. nonbreeding & breeding) in common usage is that
it's counter-intuitive to most of those interested in birds. Birds are most
obvious to most people in late spring & summer, i.e., the most basic period
of human learning probably occurs when birds (at least in northern
temperate latitudes) are in breeding (alternate) plumage. The fact that
they may spend most of their year in another (even more "basic," albeit
obscure) plumage is of less obvious (viewing) importance & therefore
probably of a precision best left to scientists or especially devoted
aficionados.

Bruce Moorhead
Port Angeles, WA
(bruceb at olypen.com)


From: CHRISTINE W. MAACK <73201.3124 at compuserve.com>
To: Tweetlist <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Plumage terminology
Date: Friday, July 11, 1997 5:54 PM

Although I never got real habituated to the use of the terms
"breeding" and "non-breeding" (so many of the birds we see
here during the birdiest time of the year are (basically)
breeding...) I also tend to draw a short blank when I hear
the words "basic" and "alternate." They may eliminate
inaccuracies and confusions, but they don't give quite
enough information on their own.

If I were helping new birders learn shorebirds, for example,
I would feel I had to give an explanation every time I used
the terms "basic" and "alternate." People would pick up
on "breeding" and "non-breeding" right away and could
start learning the exceptions to the rule as they get more
into it.

Admittedly, this is partly laziness.

P.S. Richard, send us your great long posts on your
seawatch - using any terminology.

Chris Maack
Anchorage, AK
CMaack at compuserve.com
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