The facts are out there for any one who wants to know them
Well, you see, it's MY LIST--not your list or anyone else's list! That's the great thing about bird listing--you follow whatever rules you want. Just be honest and transparent when you report your numbers publically.
So, when I say I have xxxx on my life list with yyy as heard only, you can do the subtraction to come up with xxxx-yyy and consider that as my "seen only" list if you want to compare it to your seen-only list or to anyone else's seen-only list.
So, I've made "full disclosure" and you can do whatever you want with this information.
Just imagine if "SOME HIGHER AUTHORITY" (!) decided you could only report a species if you saw a MALE in ALTERNATE PLUMAGE. Females, immatures, basic-plumage males, juveniles, etc. would not "count" on your list. You probably would not like that. However, you could report your life list by gender if you kept careful enough notes--although I'm not sure how you would report adults of species that were not sexually dimorphic.
Or what if you couldn't count anything unless you PERSONALLY had a digital photo of it?
I guess I don't know what your concern really is?
Besides, these days, it is "birding" and neither "birdwatching" nor "birdlistening" alone.
Who is to say that the visual sensory mode should have priority over the auditory one?
And consider the case with certain pairs of species, (e.g., Couch's and Tropical Kingbird, Empidonax flycatchers) where even most experts are not willing to make an identification without hearing the call of the species. So, in those cases, call is the vital clue.
Now, having said all that, I am constantly trying to change any heard-only lifers into seen lifers. There is no doubt more satisfaction in seeing a bird than just hearing it. On my recent trip to Southern Mexico, I was able to do that for Green Shrike-Vireo, and I was very pleased to finally see the bird. I will even admit, whenever possible, that I prefer to see a brightly plumaged male in alternate plumage instead of a dull female or a streaked and non-descript immature.
One final note--the American Birding Association, to whom I "report" my life list totals, allows heard-only birds with a provision that you can report seen birds (and they will duly note it).
Peter
PBono not wanting to stir things up but how can you add 176 birds to your list as heard only ? Surely it's birdwatching and not birdlistening ? I reiterate not looking for an arguement but honestly can not understand how you can tick a bird on call. Call me old fashioned but I really don't get it...
