Hi everyone, I’d like to add a some comments, having been a long-time subscriber of NYSbirds-L (which was started in ~1993-1994) and as current ADMIN (since 2004).
First, and most importantly: if you hear about a sighting of a presumed rare bird through eBird, social media, or another RBA chat group, please cross-post to NYSbirds-L immediately if it appears to be a legitimate sighting. A simple message like this would be excellent: “I just read about a report of a Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher at Wave Hill in Riverdale, New York. More details should be forthcoming by others…!” This is the preamble about NYSbirds-L, which is available at the Welcome and Basics informational link at Northeastbirding.com<http://Northeastbirding.com>: NYSbirds-L is an email list (the List) focused on the discussion of birds and birding in and around New York State. The primary purpose of the List is to disseminate information about wild bird sightings in and around New York State in a timely manner and to provide an effective electronic forum for New York State area birders. Questions and limited discussion on topics such as bird behavior, identification, conservation, and distribution, especially as these subjects relate to wild birds in and around New York State, are welcomed and encouraged. The List is not for the discussion of pet birds. Ultimately, the determination of what is and is not appropriate to discuss on the List, and when a discussion should end, will be made by the Listowner. Currently, there are nearly 1,500 email addresses subscribed to NYSbirds-L—which is the original state-wide New York eList that was created well before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, GroupMe, or any other social media platform. With tech companies constantly developing the next latest and greatest form of social media platforms, and with other forms of social media going extinct, there will always be this one state-wide electronic mail distribution list for New York State birds: NYSbirds-L. While I only enabled message archiving starting in 2009 at The Mail Archive (https://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html), all archived email messages are searchable using the advanced search feature (key words, from, subject, date range, etc.). We all recognize the clunkiness and potential time-delays associated with using email, but it is a legitimate form of documentation—of “getting it in writing”—and emails only disappear when everyone deletes all of their email messages; someone will always have a copy of emailed messages posted here. Social media data and reports can disappear from social media accounts or become inaccessible the moment a company changes hands, shutters their virtual doors, changes their policy, or gets hacked. Everyone cannot possibly be a member of every single social media platform just to stay informed. We all rely on each other to learn about important sightings and share those sightings in a timely manner. Key points: Is the NYSbirds-L eList a great way to share instantaneous messages, pictures, or to chat in back-and-forth banter with nasty opinions? No! Is the NYSbirds-L eList a good way to share important timely sightings and documentation or to respectfully discuss such topics as bird behaviors, identification, conservation, and distribution changes? Yes! Should unusual or rare birds be shared and cross-posted here to NYSbirds-L? Yes! (within reason, and using best cautionary judgement for certain sensitive or breeding species…) If you are a subscriber of NYSbirds-L and you hear about a rare bird sighting, should you wait until the original finder or someone else gets around to posting a message to NYSbirds-L about a recently sighted rare bird? No! Most Importantly: If you hear about a sighting of a presumed rare bird through eBird, social media, or another RBA chat group, please cross-post to NYSbirds-L immediately if it appears to be a legitimate sighting. A simple message like this would be excellent: “I just read about a report of a Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher at Wave Hill in Riverdale, New York. More details should be forthcoming by others…!” I’ll not forget this quote from Kevin McGowan many years ago, loosely recalled as: "I’d rather hear about a possible good bird and chase it to find out it is not what it was thought to be, than wait to find out about a positively confirmed really good bird, well after the bird is gone." Thanks to everyone for being respectful and for sharing knowledge and information widely and in a timely manner! Sincerely, Chris T-H -- Chris Tessaglia-Hymes Listowner, NYSbirds-L Ithaca, New York c...@cornell.edu<mailto:c...@cornell.edu> NYSbirds-L – Archives<http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> NYSbirds-L – Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm> NYSbirds-L – Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm> NYSbirds-L – Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
