Bird Lists - What are the rules? (1 Viewer)

[coombsy]

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Hello,
I have spent a lovely day at Slimbridge in the West of England today. I'm new to this game and was thinking that I should start up a Bird List - but hey, where do I start? can I include all of the international wildfowl at Slimbridge? They appear to be resident in the main - is this cheating? Can anyone advise on the principles?

P.S. I saw some beautiful Lapwings, Wigeon, and Curlews today. Super!

Thanks

Paul

 

[Rob Smallwood]

Your list - so your rules - but most list the wild birds that they see thus ruling out captive birds seen in collections.

Why not keep several different lists?

 

[Mike Feely]

Coombsy

What a can of worms question!!

Everyone has thier own principles when it comes to listing and discussions about what you can and can't tick can often get quite heated, but basically there are no rules - it's up to you.

There are however a few basic principles that i think most serious listers would agree on.

The official British List is "owned" & maintained by the British Ornithologists Union (BOU) and can be viewed / downloaded at their website:

www.bou.org.uk

This is split into 5 categories: A, B, C, D & E (this is where it starts to get a bit complicated!). Cat A are genuinely wild birds recorded in Britain (as a geographical unit - Englan, Wales & Scotland - NOT N. Ireland or Eire, or Isle of Man or Channel Islands - still with me?) since 1948 (i think); Cat B is for birds recorded in Britian in a genuinely wild state, but not since 1948; Cat C is for birds that now occur in Britain in a wild state but are the result of introductions or are feral populations.

Categories A,B & C make up the "official" British List. The birds in these categories are the only ones that most birders will tick on their British Lists (currently standing at 573 species with todays addition of Chestnut-eared Bunting).

Category D is a holding category for birds that would otherwise be included in Cat A, but there is reasonable doubt that they have occured in a wild state.

Category E is for Escapes, introductions & birds that have bred in Britain, but thier populations are not self sustaining.

See the BOU website for a full description of these categories.

Right, thats the basics - still awake?!?

Some birders use other lists (eg UK400) that have several species that on the official list are treated as subspieces and/or escapes, but are deemed "tickable" on these lists.

However, come birders use the BOU list, but only tick Cat's A & B and this where it can start to get a bit muddy.

Most of the birds in the Slimbridge Collection would probably be on Category E of the BOU list even though there may be genuinely wild individuals of those species in Britain, and this where it comes down to you.

If you feel comfortable ticking say a Pintail from the Slimbridge collection, even though it is obvioulsy not wild then that is up to you. Over time your list will evolve and many species that you would have once ticked will be removed (eg a few years ago i removed Golden Pheasant from my llist becausse i have not seen it in its feral population (Cat C), but i had seen it roaming around Stapleford Park when i was about 12 (Cat E).

I Hope this: a) helps; b) doesn't confuse too much & c) doesn't put you off!!

I'm sure there will be loads of others on here who will also have their own opinions on lists and i guess that is the main point - it's all down to you as an individual what you want to tick (or not!)

Cheers

Mike

edit: Rob posted whilst i was typing this and has summed it up much more succinctly!!

 

[Tero]

No tamed or dead birds. If it hits your car window and you saw it while alive, I guess you can count it. Have fun.

 

[Dave B Smith]

For the US & Canadian members, the American Birding Association has listing "rules". These can serve as a good guideline and they are available for viewing online.

For keeping your list, check out some of the threads on software. One of the Birdforum members, Jeff, has a good (and free) downloadable program for UK Birds available from his website. Check it out from this thread for listing program.

 

[birdsnapper]

Welcome to the world of birding. When I first started out,I used the simple rule that if it was flying free then I'd tick it - even escapees.

Don't worry, as you gain experienece all will become obvious - just enjoy looking at the birds.

Have you considered joining a local bird watching group or the RSPB. You'll get help with ID and good local sites.

Birdsnapper

 

[Nick Elliston]

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Hello,
I have spent a lovely day at Slimbridge in the West of England today. I'm new to this game and was thinking that I should start up a Bird List - but hey, where do I start? can I include all of the international wildfowl at Slimbridge? They appear to be resident in the main - is this cheating? Can anyone advise on the principles?

P.S. I saw some beautiful Lapwings, Wigeon, and Curlews today. Super!

Thanks

Paul

Tick it and show briefly where you saw it. You can then sort out later as you wish. You may think you won't remember, but if you show location it you invariably recall it.

 

[cuckooroller]

Don't tick museum skins either. :eek!:

 

[talon_dfa]

Forgive this newbie for adding on to old threads but...
I know an old college professor that only counted birds that he had seen copulate. I also know people that only count birds when they find the nest. (My only concern there is that they minimize disturbance).

 

[J Moss]

I have a **** list! It consists of about 20 birds that I've seen doing a poo, including Arctic Tern, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Arctic Skua.

J Moss

 

[deborah4]

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I'm new to this game and was thinking that I should start up a Bird List - but hey, where do I start? can I include all of the international wildfowl at Slimbridge? They appear to be resident in the main - is this cheating? Can anyone advise on the principles?



Thanks

Paul

Hi Paul

As you can probably tell by now, different people use different 'rules' - certainly as far as what birds they would include on a national/international list.

People also take different approaches to their level of involvement in 'seeing' a particular bird. Some list everything they see, regardless of whether it was a 'collection' bird and someone directed them to where it was (eg. at WWT places etc), others list everything they safely identify as a 'wild bird', but leaving out those they are not sure off, including likely escapes, others list every bird found for them by others (such as those pointed out in hides, at 'twitches' etc) and some only list birds they found and identified themselves!!!! I tend to be quite strict with myself, and only list birds that I'm fairly sure are wild, I tend not to 'twitch' (but if I do, I list these separately as birds i would not have found without the aid of another finder and name the original finder on my list). If I'm out birding with other people, I tend not to add birds others have spotted and wait until I've seen them again elsewhere on my own, if geographically possible! Therefore, my UK list is just wild birds which are self-found, with an addendum 'second list' of birds that were either found or pointed out for me, or I wouldn't have Id'd if I had seen them alone. Glad to say my self-found list is longer and is also the list I tend to go by.

Peoples lists vary in length, but to be honest, it's no reflection on the level of birding skills as everyone uses different methods and approaches, it's just a matter of whatever makes you happy with your hobby.

Have fun!

 

[ricklawes]

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Hello,
I have spent a lovely day at Slimbridge in the West of England today. I'm new to this game and was thinking that I should start up a Bird List - but hey, where do I start? can I include all of the international wildfowl at Slimbridge? They appear to be resident in the main - is this cheating? Can anyone advise on the principles?

P.S. I saw some beautiful Lapwings, Wigeon, and Curlews today. Super!

Thanks

Paul

Hi Paul
From what you have read here, I suggest that you do not join the list of listers,stay honest and just enjoy the birding.
(For the more serious on this forum-just joking)
Regards
Rick

 

[Steven Astley]

Agree with Rick. Just list whatever you see in the wild. Don't get bogged down with reading the BBRCs constitution (purely a specialist part of birding) spend time instead reading about the birds and their behaviour this will make your birding more enjoyable.

 

[Flemingo]

It's up to you what you want to include but most people have to convince themselves that it is a wild bird that got there under its own steam.

It only really matters if you want to compare lists with other people. Do really want to make it into a competitive sport? Just keep the lists for your own interest and to look back on in the future. If you want to compete with anyone then do it with yourself. (As long as you don't change your list rules)

Cheers

 

[gyrfalcon]

And its quite interesting to compare your own year lists. For example.. my year totals have been fairly consistent for over ten years except for two apallingly low years.. Both were the years when my two daughters were born, which is a pretty good excuse I guess!

I'm about to move house/county, so am looking forward to seeing how soon my "new" bird rich coastal county can catch up with my "old" landlocked fairly barren county!

Best of luck! Enjoy the birds

 

[allnmark]

I have a **** list! It consists of about 20 birds that I've seen doing a poo, including Arctic Tern, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Arctic Skua.

J Moss

J - you need to get to slimbridge too then - your list would double ;o)

 

[allnmark]

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Hello,
I have spent a lovely day at Slimbridge in the West of England today. I'm new to this game and was thinking that I should start up a Bird List - but hey, where do I start? can I include all of the international wildfowl at Slimbridge? They appear to be resident in the main - is this cheating? Can anyone advise on the principles?

P.S. I saw some beautiful Lapwings, Wigeon, and Curlews today. Super!

Thanks

Paul

Paul

my only advice - keep a list with notes then as it grows you can go back and cross out any that don't fit into your own evolving idea of what a list is.