There are a couple of issues relating to sharing and reporting birds.
First is the rare bird that can not be adequately reported to be accepted. Very first state records are accepted without a picture. One bird that was accepted without a picture was the first and only state record of the Crested Caracara. True it was a well known, reputible observer and an unmistakable bird. While it is unknown in neighboring states, it was seen a few days later in Ontario.
I reported and wrote up a bird that has never been seen in Minnesota. It has been found in neighboring states, but not here. The good news was that it hung around for at least four more days. I was able to refind it both times I looked in those days. The trouble was that I did not have a camera worth taking a picture. The other problem was that nobody believed my find. It was a female Black-chinned Hummingbird. I wrote it up and it was not accepted. If I was on MOURC, voting on my write up, I would not have accepted it. It is too bad that I couldn't get people to believe me, but I believe it was important to document the sighting.
The first sighting of a Stygian Owl north of the Rio Grande was not reported until about fifteen years later, after someone else reported one, which promted the birder to dig out that picture of a strange owl that he had taken years before. I do not remember if the documentation on the second Stygian was any good.
Of course there is the bird that was found only once in North American and seen by no birders. The birders visiting the community did not believe the kid who found it when he offered to take them to view it. So, the kid went out and shot the only Hoopoe ever documented in North America. Strange birds can show up anywhere. I believe that it is important to report those birds, even if it is unlikely to be accepted.
There are good reasons not to report to the listservs certain birds. Certain nesting birds may be suseptible to disturbance, such as a nesting loon. I do not understand the lack of report of a Worm-eating Warbler in the metro area. This is a bird that is unlikely to be nesting in the area, but, again, I do not understand why the bird was not reported.
Anyway... just a few thoughts. Steve Weston on Quiggley Lake in Eagan, MN [email protected] ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
