I wrote this last Christmas Count season, and I'm not sure I ever posted
it to Tweeters. Perhaps it will be timely now.



For those of you who don't listen to Car Talk, that "R&R" stands for "Rant
and Rave." ;)

I just got through reading between 40 and 50 descriptions of unusual birds
seen on last year's Oregon and Washington Christmas Bird Counts. Many
tweets have probably written up reports of unusual birds, and many more
will do so in the future, so I thought a report from the perspective of
someone reading and evaluating the reports might be of interest. More
detailed advice than mine can be found (try Mike Patterson's web page, for
instance). Consider this as remedial advice, for the rest of us scruffy
birders.

Most of the reports I read are clear and convincing, a few send up big
warning flags, but the ones that make me want to tear hair out are the
ones that are 1) probably right, but 2) completely inadequate
descriptions.


Here are some tips for writing up YOUR next white gyrfalcon or hawfinch,
in no particular order:

1. Be honest. Many (most?) reports of unusual passerines reported
viewing distances of 5-15 feet, some as close as 4 feet. Your toes are
more than four feet away! It's darn unusual to get as close as 15 feet.
Try it. My binocs barely focus that close. One observer reported viewing
a passerine from 5-15 feet, and under "optical equipment" listed a
spotting scope. It's a small thing, but if you say you saw a sparrow from
75 feet or a rare hawk from 1/3 mile, the rest of your report acquires
instant credibility. If you did get within 10 feet, explain how a little
bit, so I'll believe you.

2. Provide enough detail that the reader can evaluate your ID.
Remember, we question nobody's integrity, but *everybody's* competence.
So don't say "seen clearly; it was obviously a drake Hooded Merganser."
It may have been obvious to you, but if that's all you say, you're asking
the reader to take your ID completely on faith in your ability, and some
readers won't.

3. Eliminate similar species. If you see a drake blue-winged teal, don't
just say "the white mark on the face was clearly seen," because
buffleheads, goldeneyes and hooded mergansers also have white marks on the
face. Tell why it wasn't one of those. Some readers of of rare bird
reports seem to put particular emphasis on whether or not the writer
explicitly eliminated all similar species. So even if your report seems
complete without it, go through the motions: "I eliminated bird Y because
of feature Z, and bird Q because of feature L, so it HAD to be a harpy
eagle (or whatever).

Hope that helps, and wishing you all Christmas Sky Larks (especially if
you're doing the Everett Count),

Chris Hill
Everett, WA
cehill at u.washington.edu