Costa Rica trip help please (1 Viewer)

[bonxie birder]

To clarify. I thought it was a blue-winged warbler as it was the only bird that fitted the description. It was only when I put the info into eBird and they told me it was a rarity that I questioned myself and withdrew the sighting, hence this conversation. If you feel I have behaved inappropriately then I’m sorry. I guess by that logic I shouldn’t have put any sightings on eBird from my recent trip as if three quarters were lifers how could I ever be 100% certain about them eg Great Curassow.

 

[THE_FERN]

To clarify. I thought it was a blue-winged warbler as it was the only bird that fitted the description. It was only when I put the info into eBird and they told me it was a rarity that I questioned myself and withdrew the sighting, hence this conversation. If you feel I have behaved inappropriately then I’m sorry. I guess by that logic I shouldn’t have put any sightings on eBird from my recent trip as if three quarters were lifers how could I ever be 100% certain about them eg Great Curassow.

I'd have to check precise range, but blue-winged warbler is definitely in CR: saw one there recently. With migration you might expect them to turn up in odd places...

 

[THE_FERN]

...as blue-winged warbler? Even though you weren't sure of the ID?
My view (if I understand correctly what you've done) (purely personal, no offence, etc.) is that this is not an appropriate way to use eBird.

Anything they flag as unusual for the area (few reports win 20kms iirc) in principle requires corroborating evidence/description and should be reviewed. Then the gods of ebird can pronounce. Mostly this is just nonsense and reflects too few ebird lists for the location (i. e. true for anywhere with above-British levels of biodiversity). Doubtless sometimes it's valuable but the main problem is you don't get to enter into a dialogue with the reviewer. (One thing ebird really lacks is a messaging facility so one member can anonymously message another to say "are you sure?" or whatever.)

Sooo... only report if you're reasonably confident, but don't be cowed by the system. I've never met anyone who didn't make id mistakes...

... And you can always change a list you submit later

 

[bonxie birder]

Anything they flag as unusual for the area (few reports win 20kms iirc) in principle requires corroborating evidence/description and should be reviewed. Then the gods of ebird can pronounce. Mostly this is just nonsense and reflects too few ebird lists for the location (i. e. true for anywhere with above-British levels of biodiversity). Doubtless sometimes it's valuable but the main problem is you don't get to enter into a dialogue with the reviewer. (One thing ebird really lacks is a messaging facility so one member can anonymously message another to say "are you sure?" or whatever.)

Sooo... only report if you're reasonably confident, but don't be cowed by the system. I've never met anyone who didn't make id mistakes...

... And you can always change a list you submit later

Thank you for that. I only had doubt when I entered the sighting onto the system. Otherwise it was a good BWW for me.