Although I am not a member of the BCFO I felt obliged to comment on the
following discussion of the BCFO decision to reject the Xantus Hummingbird
report:

>Personally, I am satisfied that this hummer was a wild vagrant. I believe
>that I am as well qualified as any of the BCFO Records Committee members to
>make such a judgment.

But the fact of the matter is, there was a split decision among these well
qualified individuals and therefore the record was rejected. It is
necessary to have a small enough committee to be workable toward
accomplishing their mandate. If the committee was to include every BC
birder with appropriate qualifications, the committee would soon be too
large to function properly.

Admittedly, the chance of a species which is normally
>non-migratory, and confined to southern Baja California, making it on its
>own to B.C., and then remaining for almost a year, is remote. On the other
>hand, hummingbirds are not easily kept in captivity, and the chance of this
>bird being an escapee from captivity is even more remote. One can hardly
>ever be 100% certain that a long-distance vagrant such as this is of wild
>origin, but in my mind, it is so close to 100% that I am prepared to accept
>it as such.

I agree herein lies the problem, no-one can ascertain whether or not the
bird was wild or whether or not the bird arrived there on its own. Thus
there will always be differing opinions on which way to decide.

I am much more prepared to accept Xantus' Hummingbird as a wild
>vagrant than species such as Falcated Teal, Lesser White-fronted Goose, and
>Crested Caracara, which some other B.C. birders seem willing to accept as
>wild birds.

I think it is important to make appropriate comparisons here. Take
Falcated Duck for example, although it is a bird that is kept in
captivity, it is a migratory bird whereas the Xantus is not. Furthermore,
it is important to consider patterns of vagrancy which exist for Falcated
Duck but do not for Xantus Hummingbird and finally, the Falcated Duck
occurred in a well known vagrant trap with a history of turning up Asian
birds.

>Gerrie, I don't give a dang what the BCFO Records Committee decides. As far
>as I'm concerned, this was almost certainly a wild bird, and it's staying on
>my B.C. list!

So what is the sense of maintaining a bird list? If everyone puts on their
list whatever they feel like then doesn't listing lose its meaning?

Now here is a very good reason for the existence of the BCFO! In order to
deal with some of the chaos that can exist when dealing with what is and
what is not, we do have a need for provincial/state committees to address
these very difficult decisions. A decision by such a committee should not
be (and is not intended to be) taken personally. Keep in mind (although
Xantus is not a good example) that decisions can change over time with
increasing understanding of birds and these decisions can be reviewed as
more information pours in. For example consider the first record of
Tropical Kingbird, would this have been logically accepted? I think not,
however after a pattern of vagrancy is established, all previous records
could/should be re-examined.

I do not have a personal investment into whether or not the Xantus
Hummingbird is accepted or rejected. However some individuals that spent a
lot of time and money in an attempt to see this bird for the sake of
putting it on their B.C. list clearly do have an investment in the final
disposition of this record. (I have long since learned that this is one of
the pitfalls of rarity-chasing, you can be disappointed by travelling all
that way to find the bird has left, or in this case to find the record was
not accepted, either way should this remove the enjoyment of birding?)

I think it is important to note that although records committees generally
approach these kinds of decisions with caution and objectivity, there is
some opinion involved at some point. Because one's own opinion differs from
that of the committee or even if members of the committee have differing
opinions, the function of the committe does not change, nor its importance.
I respect the job of records committees and their decisions will not
change how much I enjoy birding so why take it personally?

>
>At the same time, I would like to thank the Pattersons, on behalf of all of
>us, for their hospitality and patience shown to the hundreds of birders who
>came to see the Xantus'. It was a wonderful bird, and you were wonderful
>hosts.

Ditto.
I would also like to thank the BCFO for the time and effort in making the
tough decision that they did.

Cheers,
Don