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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jim M." data-source="post: 1630841" data-attributes="member: 60675">As already stated, I generally agree, but I think there are additional complexities here.   ID'ing birds is often not just a matter of seeing "necessary features", but a matter of making subjective judgments based on the past experience of the observer, e.g. is the bill or primary projection too long or too bulky compared to past observations of another species, or are the wingbeats too stiff compared to how another species usually flies (ID'ing Band-rumped Storm Petrels and Leach's SP are examples of ID'ing by flight style).  A first time observer can see these features but completely lack the ability to ID the bird based upon them because he lacks the prior experience.  So under the absolute rule that one only counts birds one can personally identify, first time observers of many of these birds could never count them because they personally lack the experience to reliably identify them.  Best,Jim</blockquote>