These Four Letter Initialisms (TFLI) are valuable time-savers for birders in the field. They require some time and practice to become proficient--once learned they are easy to use, and become second nature.
Because Tweeters is used by many people who do not have to fill out forms using bird names over and over again, this can be annoying.[I hate reading a government document with all those unknown (to me) garbblygook acronyms]
I think the protocol that Tweeters has decreed; that four letter abbreviations may be used if the full bird name has been used preceeding the four letter code (e.g. Black-capped Chickadee (BCCH), is a wise decision, and allows anyone interested to learn some abbreviations that can be useful for yardlists, diaries, etc--a type of short cut.
We really aren't out to thwart others, using the abbrevs. have become habit.
If you are interested:
The complete species list (including the exceptions) can be found at: http://www.birdpop.org/AlphaCodes.htm

Recently I banded two new yard birds and the Master Banders said: 2 NEYBs--so fun can be had by using these codes creatively also.

Christine Southwick
N Seattle/Shoreline
clsouthwick at comcast.net


On Tue, 1 Apr 2008, Charlie Potter wrote:

> Wish I knew what all TFLI* are. I'll have to do some research!
>
> *These Four Letter Initialisms
>
> On Tue, April 1, 2008 10:04 am, fremontinn at aol.com wrote:
>>
>> And I clearly hear a Laughing Gull "laughing" outside.? No REALLY!!!?
>>
>> Bruce Jones
>> Shoreline, WA/Wilmington, NC
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Matt Bartels <mattxyz at earthlink.net>
>> To: tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
>> Sent: Tue, 1 Apr 2008 9:08 am
>> Subject: [Tweeters] Birds today
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi Tweets-
>> Relieved at the prospect of unambiguously good weather for a change,
>> I got out for some early birding this morning at the usual spot.
>>
>> The day started out well, before first light, when a pair of BAOW
>> flew over - perhaps a foreshadowing of what was to come....
>>
>> A little later, dawn chorus picked up, and I was happy to watch &
>> listen to the mixture of winter and summer birds. Some of the more
>> notable finds: A SASP gave its unmistakable song, just as a nice
>> flock of TRSW flew past vocalizing. In the distance, I heard what I
>> could have sworn was a MOQU, though this location is really unlikely
>> for such a species. Shorebird migration has begun in trickles, with
>> STSA a BTGO, and a BBSA being the prizes of the day. A distant RNPH
>> was a nice find too. After watching a single NOSH near the pond
>> while a flock of BASW swirled overhead, I headed to the thickets
>> where I hoped for warblers. I wasn't disappointed, either, with a
>> single male BTGW. a female BLWA and a bright PRWA showing up today!
>> Nearby, I tracked down one vagrant CAWR sitting next to a LABU before
>> calling it a morning.
>>
>> What started as just an unambiguously good weather day turned out to
>> be unambiguously good for birding as well -- enjoy the rest of the
>> day,
>>
>> Matt Bartels
>> Seattle, WA
>> _______________________________________________
>> Tweeters mailing list
>> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
>> http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>
>
> --
> Charlie Potter
> www.charliepotter.com
>
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