Pigeons...Apparently Not Often Found in Cities🤣 (1 Viewer)

[anonymousbirder]

I live in a city in the US. Like in many cities, rock pigeons are incredibly common. If you spend 5 minutes outside and don't see them, you're probably looking in the wrong direction. Doesn't matter the time of year; they're there.
Anyway, I went to a hotspot I've been to before. Pigeons are just as common there as anywhere else in the city. But eBird is trying to gaslight me into thinking pigeons are infrequent!🤣

 

[jmepler]

Are you possibly entering your sightings as just "Rock Pigeon"? That would be the wild version of the bird. Most eBird filters are set to show that as rare. You should be using "Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)" for your sightings.

 

[anonymousbirder]

Are you possibly entering your sightings as just "Rock Pigeon"? That would be the wild version of the bird. Most eBird filters are set to show that as rare. You should be using "Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)" for your sightings.

Nope! Rock pigeon without the feral after it doesn't even appear on my checklist options. Ebird is just completely out of touch with birds in the area I guess.

 

[KC Foggin]

I know NYC. Has massive amounts of pigeons

 

[mjh73]

Ebird isn't an autonomous being. It's assessment of a hotspot is based on the submissions of observers.
If people are self censoring feral pigeons off their lists then they won't appear in ebird.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Ebird isn't an autonomous being. It's assessment of a hotspot is based on the submissions of observers.
If people are self censoring feral pigeons off their lists then they won't appear in ebird.

This is exactly right, I know very few people who mention Feral Pigeon in trip reports and even fewer who count them on a life or any other list, I don't.

 

[Sangahyando]

This is exactly right, I know very few people who mention Feral Pigeon in trip reports and even fewer who count them on a life or any other list, I don't.

While I personally have zero interest in looking for quasi-feral or invasive species, I do list them under the appropriate category (C or whatever else applies) if encountered. Whether the data is submitted to ebird or other potential sources for research pertaining to conservation issues, or added to a trip report, or just intended for private use, it people a better picture of what to expect in the region and what a given place looks like.

Speaking of problems with online listing services, ornitho has recently done a disservice to its customers by throwing several established exotic species (e.g. Canada Geese) into the same general category as the native species, thus making it impossible to filter them out unless you want to also miss out on some potentially interesting local species. Not sure if ebird does the same thing, but I hope they don't.