earlytorise
Well-known member
Have you ever had an armchair UNtick?
An armchair untick is a taxonomic split such that what was otherwise one of your lifers is now unidentified to species.
Hypothetical example:
I don't know what the Arctic Warbler situation is like in the UK,
but as the following article says, at least in the field, you can't confidently separate Arctic from Kamchatka without hearing the call or song.
In that case, what if the only Arctic you have seen in the UK was silent?
www.birdguides.com
Here's a related question.
As far as the rarities committee in your part of the world,
do they accept overwhelming geographical likelihood as proof of ID?
And would you like them to?
Crazy example:
What if a female Red-flanked Bluetail turned up in Portugal?
Do you accept, merely because of the location, that it isn't a Himalayan Bluetail?
If you do, couldn't you have dismissed the possibility of Paddyfield Pipit in Cornwall?
An armchair untick is a taxonomic split such that what was otherwise one of your lifers is now unidentified to species.
Hypothetical example:
I don't know what the Arctic Warbler situation is like in the UK,
but as the following article says, at least in the field, you can't confidently separate Arctic from Kamchatka without hearing the call or song.
In that case, what if the only Arctic you have seen in the UK was silent?
Kamchatka Leaf Warbler in Finland – a new Western Palearctic species
A chance find while out grocery shopping led Petteri Lehikoinen and his colleagues to the discovery of a regional first.
www.birdguides.com
Here's a related question.
As far as the rarities committee in your part of the world,
do they accept overwhelming geographical likelihood as proof of ID?
And would you like them to?
Crazy example:
What if a female Red-flanked Bluetail turned up in Portugal?
Do you accept, merely because of the location, that it isn't a Himalayan Bluetail?
If you do, couldn't you have dismissed the possibility of Paddyfield Pipit in Cornwall?
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