Changes in how Ebird treats non-natives (1 Viewer)

[Mysticete]

Both meet all the requirements to be counted by the ABA, they just aren't for some reason.

They would need to first make it onto the relevant state checklists first before they will consider them.

"It is generally the policy of the ABA-CLC to wait for review of potential first ABA area records by the appropriate state or provincial records committee before taking the record under consideration. This will not always be the case (e.g., a few states/provinces do not have functioning records committees)."

For the Magpie-Jay, the California checklist exotic watchlist says this about the jay:

"A small population of up to 20 individuals has been resident in southwestern San Diego County since 1992, with breeding documented in the Tijuana River Valley and along the Sweetwater River in Bonita. Occasional sightings of 1-5 birds elsewhere on the coastal slope of San Diego County may represent dispersal or local escapees. The Black-throated Magpie-Jay is native to western Mexico. Given the very small size and restricted range of the population, it currently has very low potential to be added to the state list." 20 birds seems a bit small IMHO.

Can't find details on Wisconsin's exotic policy (probably because they are not exactly a mecca for exotics). Although I would think European Goldfinch would be a more likely addition first.

 

[raymie]

They would need to first make it onto the relevant state checklists first before they will consider them.

"It is generally the policy of the ABA-CLC to wait for review of potential first ABA area records by the appropriate state or provincial records committee before taking the record under consideration. This will not always be the case (e.g., a few states/provinces do not have functioning records committees)."

For the Magpie-Jay, the California checklist exotic watchlist says this about the jay:

"A small population of up to 20 individuals has been resident in southwestern San Diego County since 1992, with breeding documented in the Tijuana River Valley and along the Sweetwater River in Bonita. Occasional sightings of 1-5 birds elsewhere on the coastal slope of San Diego County may represent dispersal or local escapees. The Black-throated Magpie-Jay is native to western Mexico. Given the very small size and restricted range of the population, it currently has very low potential to be added to the state list." 20 birds seems a bit small IMHO.

Can't find details on Wisconsin's exotic policy (probably because they are not exactly a mecca for exotics). Although I would think European Goldfinch would be a more likely addition first.

I actually emailed the WSO several months ago to inquire why the Great Tit and European Goldfinch had not yet been added to the state checklist. The answer I got was that they hadn't been added to the ABA list yet. I wonder how many exotics are stuck in a loophole like this?

 

[Mysticete]

I actually emailed the WSO several months ago to inquire why the Great Tit and European Goldfinch had not yet been added to the state checklist. The answer I got was that they hadn't been added to the ABA list yet. I wonder how many exotics are stuck in a loophole like this?

Not so much a loophole as a clear gross misunderstanding of the rules. But I guess they probably have never had to deal with a situation where they would be dealing with a first ABA record, unlike say Florida, California, Texas, etc., where this would be more clear.

 

[heynonny]

I actually emailed the WSO several months ago to inquire why the Great Tit and European Goldfinch had not yet been added to the state checklist. The answer I got was that they hadn't been added to the ABA list yet. I wonder how many exotics are stuck in a loophole like this?

At least European Goldfinch in Wisconsin actually show up in species maps on ebird. That’s not the case in other places.

re: Red-masked parakeet in San Francisco
These birds have been aroind for decades and they still aren’t on the state’s checklist? Talk about stubborn.

 

[Mysticete]

At least European Goldfinch in Wisconsin actually show up in species maps on ebird. That’s not the case in other places.

re: Red-masked parakeet in San Francisco
These birds have been aroind for decades and they still aren’t on the state’s checklist? Talk about stubborn.

Hopefully this year they will be added.

 

[Mysticete]

Speak of the devil, Kimball Garrett (who is on the California bird checklist committee) just emailed the local Los Angeles message group that Lilac-crowned Parrot has been added to the state checklist, which means presumably it will be added soon to the ABA checklist. Mitred Parakeet has also been added, but that was already on the checklist based on Florida populations

 

[Kirk Roth]

They would need to first make it onto the relevant state checklists first before they will consider them.

"It is generally the policy of the ABA-CLC to wait for review of potential first ABA area records by the appropriate state or provincial records committee before taking the record under consideration. This will not always be the case (e.g., a few states/provinces do not have functioning records committees)."

For the Magpie-Jay, the California checklist exotic watchlist says this about the jay:

"A small population of up to 20 individuals has been resident in southwestern San Diego County since 1992, with breeding documented in the Tijuana River Valley and along the Sweetwater River in Bonita. Occasional sightings of 1-5 birds elsewhere on the coastal slope of San Diego County may represent dispersal or local escapees. The Black-throated Magpie-Jay is native to western Mexico. Given the very small size and restricted range of the population, it currently has very low potential to be added to the state list." 20 birds seems a bit small IMHO.

Can't find details on Wisconsin's exotic policy (probably because they are not exactly a mecca for exotics). Although I would think European Goldfinch would be a more likely addition first.

I've been told that the BT Magpie-Jays are declining, which is not exactly evident from eBird data, but is to local birders and ornithologists. This is not likely to make the "cut."

As far as the Wisconsin birds, it seems so far that both European Goldfinch and Great Tit would be considered provisional - both having bred in the state for around 20 years and expressing some distributional stability. The other European releases in the state don't seem robust enough to meet anything more than escapee status.

 

[raymie]

I've been told that the BT Magpie-Jays are declining, which is not exactly evident from eBird data, but is to local birders and ornithologists. This is not likely to make the "cut."

As far as the Wisconsin birds, it seems so far that both European Goldfinch and Great Tit would be considered provisional - both having bred in the state for around 20 years and expressing some distributional stability. The other European releases in the state don't seem robust enough to meet anything more than escapee status.

None of the other Wisconsin European escapees have ever been documented breeding and with one exception (Azure Tit) all have not been recorded in 20 years. Only Great Tit and European Goldfinch are established.

 

[Kirk Roth]

None of the other Wisconsin European escapees have ever been documented breeding and with one exception (Azure Tit) all have not been recorded in 20 years. Only Great Tit and European Goldfinch are established.

Actually, the reputed "release event" for a lot of these birds would have been in 2002, so all of these would be in the last 20 years. The second Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas concluded in 2019 and their "watch list" included Eurasian Jay, Eurasian Blue Tit, Eurasian Siskin, European Greenfinch, Common Chaffinch, and Eurasian Linnet. I know there was a publication at least as recent as 2009 documenting Chaffinch still in the area.

I haven't seen the results of the WBBA and I can't speak of any breeding attempts of these species, but indeed no evidence that they are anywhere near provisional, let alone established. Here is an article from 2008 mostly about the goldfinch, but touches on records of the other species starting in 2002:

http://fieldmarks.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/EUGO-NAB.pdf

 

[Cettia]

None of the other Wisconsin European escapees have ever been documented breeding and with one exception (Azure Tit) all have not been recorded in 20 years. Only Great Tit and European Goldfinch are established.

Sorry for the off topic. Can you please place some info regarding the azure tit in the US?
Thanks

 

[Mysticete]

Sorry for the off topic. Can you please place some info regarding the azure tit in the US?
Thanks

Not much to really say. An Azure tit was seen and documented in Milwaukee in 2021, presumably an escapee pet. Not sure if people really looked for it after the initial sighting or if it was seen later.

 

[SanAngelo]

Here's archive info for the Azure Tit from Wisconsin wisbirdn (wisb) listserv:

wisbirdn - 09-2021 Mailing List Archive

The Tit in question is in the 8 and 10th expanded thread, counting down from the top.

I found no mention beyond these dates in September 2021.

 

[raymie]

It looks like this new system has been quietly implemented already. Notice how Black and Mute Swans don't count towards the species count for this hotspot:

 

[raymie]

The changes have just been implemented. All exotic occurences in eBird are now tagged as one of three categories:


It seems the category of an individual record is left up to the local reviewer. Note that on place lists (such as hotspots or countries) the provisional species are listed at the end after the native and naturalized species.

 

[raymie]

Looking around at how some of my records have been handled, I'm not super happy with it - this doesn't really seem to accomplish anything. I wish there was an option to flag a record and argue with the reviewer about how certain records were handled.

 

[Mysticete]

I checked through my records. Flagging something as provisional or exotic doesn't seem to impact your actual ebird lifelist, so the new system doesn't seem to problematic to me. I'd much rather see these sort of tags on lists if it results in more ebirders submitting records of exotics into ebird. I don't necessarily agree with all of the flags, but most seem reasonable.

It will be interesting to see how this effects fantasy birding. Under the system now implemented, as long as a record is considered valid on ebird and not flagged as a rarity, you could count the bird as long as the species was somehow on the ABA checklist.

The tagging system basically just brings ebird into compliance with a lot of state/country checklist committees.

 

[raymie]

I checked through my records. Flagging something as provisional or exotic doesn't seem to impact your actual ebird lifelist, so the new system doesn't seem to problematic to me. I'd much rather see these sort of tags on lists if it results in more ebirders submitting records of exotics into ebird. I don't necessarily agree with all of the flags, but most seem reasonable.

It will be interesting to see how this effects fantasy birding. Under the system now implemented, as long as a record is considered valid on ebird and not flagged as a rarity, you could count the bird as long as the species was somehow on the ABA checklist.

The tagging system basically just brings ebird into compliance with a lot of state/country checklist committees.

The record I'm annoyed by is the fact that a clearly established species that should at least be provisional is listed as an escapee.

 

[raymie]

And here's eBird's official announcement:

Important Changes to Exotic Species in eBird - eBird

The way eBird displays exotic species reports is changing! These improvements raise awareness and make it easier to monitor exotic bird populations around the world.

ebird.org

 

[raymie]

After looking further into it I also see I have an ABA-countable exotic listed as Provisional.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

And I have one and maybe two species listed as escapees, but still counting against my total for PA.