A list of the Bird Banding Laboratory codes for all North American bird
species can be found at:

www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/manual/aspeclst.htm

Excerpt from www.birdingfaqs.com

Ornithological codes
Before voice recognition software and dictaphones, stenographers could
record conversations with a set of standard, universally recognized chicken
scratches, called shorthand (one of Sir Isaac Pitman's gifts to the world).
There are ornithological versions of shorthand.

Some bird study organizations have developed abbreviations or codes to
designate species. The purpose is twofold. First, to make the composition of
field notes easier and faster and secondly, such a system standardizes the
reporting format for collection of scientific data such as Christmas Bird
Counts and bird banding information. There are a few versions out there.
The Ornithology Department at the Royal British Columbia Museum has
developed a set, but the codes that are probably the most widely used in
North America, are those developed by the Patuxent Wildlife Research
Center's Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL). The BBL codes are, by far, the most
comprehensive set, covering every species that has been known to occur in
North America. For this reason they are generally accepted as the standard
for birders. Although the codes are primarily used by researchers involved
in the scientific study of birds, it is useful for the recreational birder
to be familiar with the system. Recreational birders frequently assist in
the collection of data (bird counts and surveys are a good example) and, in
such cases, may be required to submit the data using standard abbreviations.
As well, with the advent of e-mail groups for birding, some of the postings
of bird sightings are in code. Although there is a certain appeal to being
mysterious and communicating in code, that's really not the reason some
birders post sightings in this fashion. It's simply that, if you are listing
a large number of different species, it is faster to do it in code than to
type out the full species name. If you decide to join one of the e-mail
groups, being familiar with these abbreviations will make it easier for you
to understand these types of messages.


-----Original Message-----
From: TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu
[mailto:TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu]On Behalf Of Joy Markgraf
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2004 5:00 PM
To: Tweeters Washington
Subject: 4 Letter Codes



Hello Tweeters;
Recently I subscribed to your list serve and see many bird codes used that
I do not understand. This makes it difficult to follow the conversation.
Does anyone know where to find a code list?
Much appreciated;
Joy Stickney-Markgraf