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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pete Mella" data-source="post: 1242722" data-attributes="member: 47236">I suppose the issue is whether people see you as someone fit to give them advice. If you sense someone knows a great deal more than you then you take their advice, and if you feel they don't you bristle at their cheek.While none of us here would give corrections unless we were 100% sure we were right, I suppose it has to be taken into account that some birders think they know a lot more than they do, and would be very offended by the sheer inference that they've made a schoolboy error (even though they blatently have). A beginner on the other hand may feel a bit daft they've made a birding faux pas, but if done gently and making it clear a mistake is nothing to feel stupid about, then they'll probably be thankful for the correction.Also, no-one would mind at all if you "upgrade" a common id to something rarer they haven't seen before, but may be less willing to accept a hobby is just a kestrel, canvasback is just a pochard, or a spectacled warbler is just a whitethroat etc.</blockquote>