Deb Burhinus
Used to be well known! 😎
Now that’s probably got your attention , the two issues aren’t linked (or one would hope not!) and not sure why there is an exclaimation mark :eek!:
ID forums
Experienced birders can do more imo
I would suggest that 2 initial confirmation posts in response to an ID request is adequate, unless the ID is being contested with clear reasons why, or further explaination is given for the original 2-3 confirmations’. Follow up repeated ‘agree’, ‘100% ...’, or simply repeating the species name, imo, does little to help the OP gain further knowledge or assist in helping to separate possible confusion species when they face them in the field. If anything it could have a negative impact by making the OP feel inadequate or even bullied into accepting an ID when they still have questions or are interested in further discussion
I would suggest the following:
- New or unexperienced birders (or any birder with little or no experience with a particular species) may learn more by requesting the salient points visible in the photo with reference to plumage and structure and those features (if appropriate) that separate the OPs sp. from another or simply characterise the OPs sp. giving reference too to behaviour and habitat if noted by OP.
- If the OP is still unconvinced, and are brave enough to give reasons why they are struggling, then those reasons need to be responded to - otherwise, well we have seen it, frequent ID requests from the same birders for the same species will keep popping up on the ID forums because IDs end up being accepted by the OP based simply on the number of posters or a perceived view (at times misplaced!) on the field ‘experience’ of the species by the posters offering contesting opinions, rather than an understanding on how he or she can arrive at the ID themselves.
- distant raptors and other blobs!
If you have time to take a photo, you have time to look at the bird. If not, look at the bird instead and I mean, really look (and listen!) You may ‘miss’ this one but the information you take in will be invaluable in indentifying the species next time. A poor and distance raptor image tells you less about structure, flight pattern and size than you could identify to a particular species in the field with more skill. Even with brief and distant views valuable information can be lost when taking a photo. Make immediate field notes! I promise the learning curve will be much steeper. When I look back on my fieldnotes from 20 years ago, I can identify species from them that I couldnt ID at the time and so just ‘let go’. If it’s the possibility of a rarity you are after with a poor record shot instead of a solid in the field ID supported by fieldnotes, believe me, in the long run, you are far more likely to even find a rarity by looking more and snapping less!
Avoid sexual bias in the field
This may sound a little out there but it works! When I first started birding I would ignore any female of the species (unless unwittingly I didn’t because plumage was very similar to male), I skimmed over drakes in eclipse, young birds with female type plumage. I focused on the easy to identify adult male plumage because like many nature enthusiasts, colour is always an inspiring motivation for our interests. Because my focus was on plumage colours, including bare parts, with only subsidiary attention to structure, my progress was initially slower than it could have been.
Birds molt, they stand in mud, light, distance and other environmental factors all effect a given plumage observation at a given time.
Once I realised this and started to focus more on structure as my initial field obs, (instead of getting hung up with plumage features,) ie bill shape/length, wing shape/primary projection, tail length etc separating buntings from finches, pipits from larks, falcons from acciptors, buteos from aquilas etc became much more straight forward. Further identification within each family then becomes much easier when it comes to female types, abberrant or untimely molts, muddy birds, distant birds and even separating possible rarities from more common confusion species.
Avoiding sexual bias in the field will make you a better birder, really!
ID forums
Experienced birders can do more imo
I would suggest that 2 initial confirmation posts in response to an ID request is adequate, unless the ID is being contested with clear reasons why, or further explaination is given for the original 2-3 confirmations’. Follow up repeated ‘agree’, ‘100% ...’, or simply repeating the species name, imo, does little to help the OP gain further knowledge or assist in helping to separate possible confusion species when they face them in the field. If anything it could have a negative impact by making the OP feel inadequate or even bullied into accepting an ID when they still have questions or are interested in further discussion
I would suggest the following:
- New or unexperienced birders (or any birder with little or no experience with a particular species) may learn more by requesting the salient points visible in the photo with reference to plumage and structure and those features (if appropriate) that separate the OPs sp. from another or simply characterise the OPs sp. giving reference too to behaviour and habitat if noted by OP.
- If the OP is still unconvinced, and are brave enough to give reasons why they are struggling, then those reasons need to be responded to - otherwise, well we have seen it, frequent ID requests from the same birders for the same species will keep popping up on the ID forums because IDs end up being accepted by the OP based simply on the number of posters or a perceived view (at times misplaced!) on the field ‘experience’ of the species by the posters offering contesting opinions, rather than an understanding on how he or she can arrive at the ID themselves.
- distant raptors and other blobs!
If you have time to take a photo, you have time to look at the bird. If not, look at the bird instead and I mean, really look (and listen!) You may ‘miss’ this one but the information you take in will be invaluable in indentifying the species next time. A poor and distance raptor image tells you less about structure, flight pattern and size than you could identify to a particular species in the field with more skill. Even with brief and distant views valuable information can be lost when taking a photo. Make immediate field notes! I promise the learning curve will be much steeper. When I look back on my fieldnotes from 20 years ago, I can identify species from them that I couldnt ID at the time and so just ‘let go’. If it’s the possibility of a rarity you are after with a poor record shot instead of a solid in the field ID supported by fieldnotes, believe me, in the long run, you are far more likely to even find a rarity by looking more and snapping less!
Avoid sexual bias in the field
This may sound a little out there but it works! When I first started birding I would ignore any female of the species (unless unwittingly I didn’t because plumage was very similar to male), I skimmed over drakes in eclipse, young birds with female type plumage. I focused on the easy to identify adult male plumage because like many nature enthusiasts, colour is always an inspiring motivation for our interests. Because my focus was on plumage colours, including bare parts, with only subsidiary attention to structure, my progress was initially slower than it could have been.
Birds molt, they stand in mud, light, distance and other environmental factors all effect a given plumage observation at a given time.
Once I realised this and started to focus more on structure as my initial field obs, (instead of getting hung up with plumage features,) ie bill shape/length, wing shape/primary projection, tail length etc separating buntings from finches, pipits from larks, falcons from acciptors, buteos from aquilas etc became much more straight forward. Further identification within each family then becomes much easier when it comes to female types, abberrant or untimely molts, muddy birds, distant birds and even separating possible rarities from more common confusion species.
Avoiding sexual bias in the field will make you a better birder, really!