Going back to the bird q and a discussion thread si and bobtag mentioned (I'll mention it again!-
(
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=100785)
Since this seems to be the faster moving thread, and the recent exchanges are proving the point even more, I'll put some more definitive thoughts down here;
(and wrt this thread, I don't think Alan is one of those lazy birders referred to by some, but someone who became stumped and came onto BF for assistance as well they should. The responses that came were either a) borne of frustration after the number of basic requests for id help as a FIRST resort b) just plain sarky comments from peeps who are like that anyway. Hence the following 'discussion'. No smoke without fire . . . .)
The bird q and a thread gets a LOT of new threads started (50 a day?- a lot more than any other I think) It is VERY CROWDED, and threads can sink quite quickly out of sight. A lot of these are bird id requests of 'commoner' species which are fairly straightforward for someone with more experience or a different perspective to help with. . . and it is great that people will help. I reckon these should be divided up geographically, so there should be a 'What's that Bird?' Forum for id help, divided into Europe, North America, and Rest of World. Another section would be entitled something like; 'Bird id discussion- Tricky species' (something like that, you get my drift tho).
The 'what's that bird?' sections would be for novices, beginners, holidaymakers, relatively inexperienced birders or birders getting stumped etc etc who wanted help with their id, (and their id skills). Responses would be helpful and not sarky, as everyone should know what they're getting into . . .
The tricky species section would involve the inevitable redpolls I guess, but all other rarer and trickier species (like the recent Intermediate Egret, The trickier gulls). Discussions of abraded outer tertials on Snowy Plovers, whatever. ( More for serious birders to get help and discuss such things.)
A further section 'Troubled Tertials' similar to 'Ruffled Feathers' should also be provided somewhere or another for those who want to swear at each other and diss any and anything they don't like . . . . members only.
So in Bird Id section-
1)What's that bird?-
a)Europe/ b)N America/ c)Rest of World.
2)Tricky id help section/ Birding Id frontiers section
And somewhere else (near the rare bird thread? or Ruffled feathers?)-
3)An informal section for the 'less formalised' to rant on about stuff relating to their birding, or to take an off topic sidetrack further on without disturbing the original thread further. . . (RF doesn't seem to get used conversationally like this)
Like in the other post I mentioned, Sticky at the head of the 'What's that bird?' section- RULES OF ENGAGEMENT- all respondents to give clues, where appropriate as to a birds id, but definately give REASONs and EXPLANATIONS in any case.
And a ticking off method so a thread can be identified when it has served its purpose- a Y for bird successfully id'ed, a X or ? for no id yet or consensus not reached.
Do peeps think something like this ain't so bad an idea- surely something has to change/evolve- This forum is getting cluttered and things will hardly get better. . . .Politeness can of course always be enforced, but newbies shouldn't have to risk ridicule, not should those who want to discuss more complex id conundrums find they don't as there is such a weight of basic id requests from around the globe that like minds do not meet.
Discussions on eg winter plumage Oriental Pratincoles and Intermediate Egrets in Europe should be in the right place if BF is to be of any use, equally as much as a new birder should get help with a juvenile robin they saw in the park or a holidaymaker with a Trogon they saw in the jungle whilst on a cruise.
Essay over. Please vote now!