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Reliability of identifications: Some research (1 Viewer)

These databases like ebird indeed create a whole new range of errors: those made by putting the records wrongly and by glitches in the system. My local database suggests a bird name, but a first name alphabetically, so sometimes there appear Laughing Gulls instead of Little Grebes and so on.

Annoying is that 'big' errors are easily spotted, but a substitution between two commoner species nobody would notice.
 
Surreybirder said:
I cannot help feeling that the Americans have done what we British have done in earlier times! I'm watching the Crown on Netflix - we were imperialists until fairly recently.
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The difference in this particular case being that as the owners of the English language we are surely entitled to give things an English name: that doesn't stop locals calling the bird what they like in the local language. Americans barging into perfectly well named birds like Siberian Tit and trying to misappropriate them is ridiculous.

John
 
Another challenge with eBird which I came across recently concerns formerly common species which have become rare enough to require a description. I saw black-bellied tern in India
https://ebird.org/checklist/S17946115
But I was recently asked for a description. I'm afraid I didn't keep notes from 1988 so I couldn't provide one.
If, say, willow tit becomes rare enough in the UK to need a description in 30 years' time, will we all be asked to provide descriptions of our own records, which could go back 50 or more years by then?
 
Farnboro John said:
The difference in this particular case being that as the owners of the English language we are surely entitled to give things an English name: that doesn't stop locals calling the bird what they like in the local language. Americans barging into perfectly well named birds like Siberian Tit and trying to misappropriate them is ridiculous.

John
Click to expand...

Ebird provide English English names in addition to American English names as a choice and indeed consulted UK moderators on choices.

All the best
 
Surreybirder said:
Another challenge with eBird which I came across recently concerns formerly common species which have become rare enough to require a description. I saw black-bellied tern in India
https://ebird.org/checklist/S17946115
But I was recently asked for a description. I'm afraid I didn't keep notes from 1988 so I couldn't provide one.
If, say, willow tit becomes rare enough in the UK to need a description in 30 years' time, will we all be asked to provide descriptions of our own records, which could go back 50 or more years by then?
Click to expand...

Willow Tit has and I have been asked when putting in historic records. I simply added in the wording - 'not uncommon at the time and no description taken'. The moderator will then decide whether to include it or not. This is only an issue with inputting historic records. I'm not sure the problem though as the description and acceptance by a moderator only affect the status of a record rather than your personal lists etc.
 
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Paul Chapman said:
Ebird provide English English names in addition to American English names as a choice and indeed consulted UK moderators on choices.

All the best
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Hi Paul,

Following so many discussions I do actually know that, and it wasn't e-bird I was talking about on this occasion. It was the nonsensical linking of British Imperialism (about which I have my own opinion ;)) to bird-naming in the English language.

John
 
Paul Chapman said:
Ebird provide English English names in addition to American English names as a choice and indeed consulted UK moderators on choices.

All the best
Click to expand...
Only to signed-up individual accounts. They don't do so for general use, nor on exported data provided to other sites. Which they should, for taxa more relevant to England than to the USA.
 
Surreybirder said:
I just noticed who had the longest list ;-)
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Yes. I use it a fair amount and intend to add more historic records. I think that in the main, the functionality is good as is the ability to store photos in a searchable way. That is why I am able to say that I simply do not recognise suggestions of lots of misidentified exotica.

dantheman said:
I don't recognise 43 out of the first 100 bird species in that ebird link.

Even taking out the various 'Eurasian', 'European' and 'Northern's still leaves a fair few.
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I find that a surprisingly high number. Save for some like Mew Gull and Common Merganser, most I considered reasonably easy to recognise.

Nutcracker said:
Only to signed-up individual accounts. They don't do so for general use, nor on exported data provided to other sites. Which they should, for taxa more relevant to England than to the USA.
Click to expand...

Noted. It should be an option certainly for County Recorders etc to export data in recognised English names. Albeit for those county boundaries are probably a bigger issue.

All the best
 
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Paul Chapman said:
I find that a surprisingly high number. Save for some like Mew Gull and Common Merganser, most I considered reasonably easy to recognise.
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I assume you would have realised the grumpy old man aspect to my post - of course I recognise all 100 for what they are meant to be, just that 43 of them are not in a form or specifically named form that they would have occurred as such in the UK for the records concerned.

I note that for example, you can change the language for eg Spain to Spanish, but there is no function on the page to change to English for eg Great Britain.
 
dantheman said:
I assume you would have realised the grumpy old man aspect to my post - of course I recognise all 100 for what they are meant to be, just that 43 of them are not in a form or specifically named form that they would have occurred as such in the UK for the records concerned.

I note that for example, you can change the language for eg Spain to Spanish, but there is no function on the page to change to English for eg Great Britain.
Click to expand...

This is too long for me to be interested in but for those that care:-

https://ebird.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/48000804865-bird-names-in-ebird

All the best
 
I doubt this link will have changed for those without an account but I've changed my personal preferences so I don't shout Mew Gull unless I am looking at the American subspecies or Common Merganser unless I am stringing in Northern Ireland at least a decade ago. (Actually, I didn't go in the end.)

https://ebird.org/region/GB-ENG?yr=all

All the best
 
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