while i am not arguing that all should adopt four letter codes, simply
ridiculing the use of them makes no more sense than to ridicule latin
names, or any jargon of any field.

four letter codes are not insensible. the pattern (and one would think
that pattern recognition is a favorite hobby of birders) is easy to
discern. what but red tailed hawk might RTHA mean, especially when one
sees that RTLO stands for red throated loon, add BCNH for black crowned
night heron, AMCO for american coot, SMEW for smew, and almost all
confusion is erased - of course there will be exceptions, but certainly
nothing as strange as the old i before e rule that all of us mastered
as children. so it is that bank swallow and barn swallow cannot both be
designated by BASW, and the barn swallow is known as BRSW. no, it is
not because we are too stupid to understand such a simple system, nor
are we too lazy to learn something new, and yes, when making notes in
the field, its better to use shorthand than miss precious seconds of
observation a living breathing ephemeral bird than making fully
"fleshed" notes.

the only real reason to avoid using four letter codes, as far as i can
see, is that the names of birds, common and latin, are beautiful to the
eye and ear, much like - and this is one of the beautiful symmetries of
language - their subject, the birds themselves.

monte merrick
wildlife rehabilitator/oiled bird care specialist
lummi island washington
montemerrick at speakeasy.net
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