As the party precipitating this discussion, I would like to say that I
too am frustrated by a string of TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) or those
cute computer short forms like BTW and IMHO. So I understand completely
that some will feel a little in the dark with four letter species
codes. But they are very useful, and maybe the best solution is to use
them only when the species name has been spelled out the first time eg.
"Dark-eyed Junco (DEJU)" That way those who want to learn a useful
system can do so. It may also help others learn when codes change
because of the #%$% at !! taxonomists . . . . .but that's another can of
worms.

Bruce Whittington
Victoria BC
mailto: fieldnat at pacificcoast.net