Hello, Birders. A quick perusal of COBirds reveals at least 30 reports of "review species" within the past week. "Review species" are rare birds for which the Colorado Bird Records Committee (CBRC) requests documentation of occurrence. Here is a link to the list of review species for Colorado: http://tinyurl.com/3hw3sn4
Birds reported in Colorado during the past week requiring CBRC documentation are the following: 1. Glossy Ibis, Weld County, 5/26 2. Common Black-Hawk, Mesa County, 5/26 3. Red-shouldered Hawk, Larimer County, 5/28 4. Hudsonian Godwit, Kiowa County, 5/28 5. Laughing Gull, Bent County, 5/29 6. Black-legged Kittiwake, Weld County, 5/25 7. Arctic Tern, Bent County, 5/28 8. Arctic Tern, Weld County, 5/26 9. Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Washington County, 5/28 10. Alder Flycatcher, Baca County, 5/30 11. Alder Flycatcher, Boulder County, 5/29 12. Alder Flycatcher, Gunnison County, 5/27 13. Alder Flycatcher, Larimer County, 5/29 14. Alder Flycatcher, Prewitt County, 5/29 15. Philadelphia Vireo, Logan County, 5/25 16. Philadelphia Vireo, Pueblo/El Paso Counties, 5/26 17. Gray-cheeked Thrush, Yuma County, 5/29 18. Blackburnian Warbler, Boulder County, 5/25 19. Blackburnian Warbler, Washington County, 5/25 20. Blackburnian Warbler, Weld County, 5/24 21. Bay-breasted Warbler, Douglas/Jefferson Counties, 5/28 22. Bay-breasted Warbler, Pueblo County, 5/27 23. Bay-breasted Warbler, Pueblo/El Paso Counties, 5/28 24. Kentucky Warbler, Baca County, 5/31 25. Mourning Warbler, Larimer, 5/26 26. Canada Warbler, Bent County, 5/29 27. Canada Warbler, Washington County, 5/27 28. Hepatic Tanager, Las Animas County, 5/29 29. Scarlet Tanager, Pueblo/El Paso Counties, 5/26 30. Black-chinned Sparrow, Mesa County, 5/28 If you were fortunate enough to have observed one or more of the preceding, please submit documentation to the CBRC. The CBRC's state-of-the-art online reporting form, developed by Mark Peterson and Larry Semo, is extremely easy to use. Get started here: http://tinyurl.com/3mw5k8k Comment: While I am the first person to say that COBirds is a marvelous resource for birders in Colorado, I will also be first in line to state that a report submitted to COBirds emphatically does *not* constitute evidence of occurrence of a review species in Colorado. Needless to say, anybody can say anything on COBirds. Like this: I just saw 3 Yellow-green Vireos in Lafayette, Boulder County. See? I just said that on COBirds. Doesn't make it true. No, the primary purpose of COBirds is speedy dissemimation of bird reports of likely interest to the broader birding community. That's outstanding. That's what COBirds is for. Enter CBRC. The purpose of CBRC is to provide expert evaluation and permanent archiving of the occurrence of review species in Colorado. I'll be blunt: If you want for your bird to "count," submit documentation to CBRC. If you don't submit to CBRC, then your Alder Flycatcher--I'm "picking" on that species only because of the proliferation of reports in the past few days--is no better than my 3 Yellow-green Vireos in Lafayette. No, wait! Make it 4! (What? What's that you say? House Sparrows sound a lot like Yellow-green Vireos. Whatever. I'm counting it for my list. Just heard a fifth House Sparr, I mean, Yellow-green Vireo.) Here's another reason to supply documentation to the CBRC. If you do not, then your report in the outstanding quarterly "Notes from the Field" column in the superb journal Colorado Birds will be flagged with the dreaded "no doc." In the Fall 2010 report, 72 out of 111 reports (64.9%) of Colorado review species were flagged with "no doc." That's way too high for a state with such great birders as those in Colorado. In California, by way of comparison, it is believed that only ~10% of occurrences of California review species do not make it to that state's bird records committee. Again, we can do better in Colorado. Random aside: Young birders Marcel Such and Joel Such do an absolutely brilliant job with "Notes from the Field." I wonder if any other state or province has field ornithologists as young as Marcel and Joel doing work as impressive as what those two are doing; in due course, we'll pride ourselves in having known those two. Heck, I already consider my affiliation with Marcel and Joel to be a source of great pride. COBirds is great. The CBRC is great. And together they are fantastic. Thanks to COBirds, birders learn all about the rare birds being reported all over Colorado. And thanks to the CBRC, a valuable, expert-reviewed, permanent record of occurrence of review species is established. One last thought. I think it is great--the mark of a really good birder--when reports to COBirds are presented with some amount of equivocation or doubt. No names, but the truly great birders in Colorado are the ones who are willing to say in public when they're not certain: I'm thinking of the folks who have recently reported a tricky gull in El Paso County, a singing but unseen warbler in Pueblo County, a likely but not certain Eastern Wood-Pewee in Kit Carson County, an intriguing Dendroica (er, Setophaga) warbler in Baca County, etc. Such folks are the truly great birders in Colorado, if you ask me. Anybody can type Y-E-L-L-O-W G-R-E..., the press SEND, and, voila, you've made it onto COBirds. Far fewer birders--they're generally known as experts--know when *not* to pull the trigger, and instead to say "I'm not sure" or "I don't know." ------------------------------- Ted Floyd Editor, Birding Blog: http://tinyurl.com/4n6qswt Twitter: http://tinyurl.com/2ejzlzv Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/2wkvwxs ------------------------------- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. 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