The following message is from NYSbirds-L and was originally posted by Angus Wilson, chair of the New York State Avian Records Committee (NYSARC).
If you have seen any NYSARC-reportable species, please submit those using the report form via the NYSARC button at the NYSARC website, below: http://nybirds.org/NYSARC/ The list of reportable species is also available from the NYSARC website. Thanks! Sincerely, Chris T-H -- Chris Tessaglia-Hymes Listowner, Cayugabirds-L Ithaca, New York [email protected] <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> Cayugabirds-L - Archives <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Cayugabirds-L - Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Cayugabirds-L - Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Cayugabirds-L - Subscribe, Configuration and Leave From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Angus Wilson Sent: Monday, August 08, 2011 10:25 PM To: NYSBIRDS-L Subject: [nysbirds-l] Rare Birds: News from the New York State Avian Records Committee *** Feel free to repost this to other NY lists and bulletin boards or reprint in your club newsletter *** Hi Everyone, Some good news and some less good news, plus an urgent plea for your help. First the good news, as readers of the June issue of the Kingbird [2011 Vol. 61 issue 2] will have seen, the New York State Avian Records Committee (NYSARC) has added three new species to the New York State Check List based on a series of superbly documented sightings from 2010. The new species are BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCK, COMMON GROUND DOVE and HERMIT WARBLER. These and a handful of additional reports were reviewed ahead of the rest of the 2010 packet using the new 'Accelerated Review' procedure for potential new species. Congratulations to the finders of these fabulous birds, all of which lingered long enough to be seen by many birders from around the state and beyond. In total we received close to 180 reports from 2010, covering some 95 separate sightings. In addition, the Committee is reviewing 14 reports of sightings from as back as 1960. Well done everybody! Now the bad news. For reasons unknown, there has been a significant and worrying drop in the number of submissions covering the first half of 2011 - only 43 submissions covering 32 sightings. This is NOT because of a dearth in sightings of sufficient rarity; judging from postings to eBird, local RBAs and the listserves this has been a banner year and begs the question: why so few reports? Two recent sightings - the Staten Island Hooded Crow and the Coney Island Gray-hooded Gull - have attracted very significant attention from birders and non-birders alike. People have literally flown in from every corner of the US and Canada to see these two birds. As of today we have 8 submissions on the Gray-hooded Gull, including a report from the finders (Sara Burch and Jacob McCartney) - thank you all very much - but only A SINGLE report on the Hooded Crow.....and that was prepared by me. How many hundreds of people came, saw and photographed the Hooded Crow? For the review and archiving process to work and for decisions to be made in a timely manner, we need documentation (descriptions, photographs and other material that pertain to the origins of these birds). For various reasons we have to limit ourselves to documentation that is submitted to us and so a little bit of effort is required from birders. Many blog postings and listserve messages correctly stated that the 'state bird record committee' (meaning NYSARC) is charged with making the decision of whether or not to add these species to the New York State Checklist, which is maintained by NYSOA. Some commentators have added the caveat that this will take a year or more, a tidbit that I've seen reiterated in more than one newspaper article (grrrrr). While it is true that these decisions can be slow, afterall some detective work is often needed, this type of comment fails to acknowledge the above mentioned 'accelerated review' procedure. The Hooded Crow is especially complicated because of legitimate concerns about the possibility of an escape, the likelihood of ship-assisted passage and so on. But here's the rub, if the Committee is to review and vote on these important sightings, it needs reports to work from. I can assure readers that the members of the Committee are chomping at the bit to get stuck into the review of these important birds and again we need you help. The photographs I submitted of the Hooded Crow were not terribly good and I'm sure there are plenty of superior photos available. With respect to the gull and the crow, the Committee would like to look carefully at the condition of the plumage and would appreciate good flight shots that showing fine details of the wings and the tail feathers. These can be emailed directly to us via our web address: 'nysarc3 [at symbol] nysoa.org'. Thinking more broadly, I encourage everyone to dig through notes, photographs and eBird data for your reviewable sightings. Visit our web page <http://nybirds.org/NYSARC/> for more details. We look forward to hearing from you. As a side note, I would like to encourage active birders to join us at the NYSOA Annual Meeting (http://www.nybirds.org/) in late September. The meeting is hosted by the Ralph T. Waterman Bird Club and will be held on the shores of Sylvan Lake in Dutchess County. There is an excellent program of talks about all aspects of birds and birding, including an 'All-Star' series of workshops (bird identification, eBird, rare birds and so on) on Friday evening. For the first time, the entire NYSARC Committee will be in attendance at the meeting and we will actually hold our review meeting (closed door unfortunately) on Saturday. We look forward to meeting with people and talking about our work. We also welcome your thoughts on ways to improve the process so that a greater fraction of rare bird sightings are adequately documented and archived for posterity. Cheers, Angus Wilson Chair, New York State Avian Records Committee (NYSARC) New York State Ornithological Association (NYSOA) -- NYSbirds-L List Info: <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html> Please submit your observations to <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> eBird! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
