NZ bird Tickability lists

General birdwatching discussion, help with bird identification, and all other things relating to wild birds and birding in NZ that don't fit in one of the other forums.
Grahame
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Re: NZ bird Tickability lists

Postby Grahame » Thu Apr 18, 2019 8:32 am

If we do as Colin suggests and use ebird for our list, this might be a good time to put right our incorrect (by international standards) names to quite a few birds. At the moment, when we enter many of our birds into ebird, we have to first of all sort out the correct name, such as Great Egret instead of White Heron, Masked Lapwing instead of Spur-winged Plover to name but two of the many. This is also a difficulty when meeting visiting birders, or even when we go to other countries. It would also help to reduce some of the laughable entries made by some visitors.

Cheers, Grahame
Colin Miskelly
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Re: NZ bird Tickability lists

Postby Colin Miskelly » Thu Apr 18, 2019 9:04 am

Thanks Tim and Brent for your comments

There are several birders who could knock me off my eBird perch, and I hope that when they do they go to the little bit of extra effort to enter information on all the birds they counted at the same time and place that they found every species on their list.

My comments are more as a researcher trying to find and interpret information on New Zealand birds. As an example, hundreds of experienced birders have visited Enderby Island in the Auckland Islands, and many will have kept a personal record of what they saw. A smaller proportion have entered their observations into eBird, but if they provide only a 'Part list' of the choice endemic species, then their data cannot be included in an analysis of how each species has responded to the eradication of rabbits and cattle in 1993. It is the few 'Full lists' that allow analysis of questions like 'what proportion of observers encountered silvereyes, and how did this proportion change over time as endemic species recovered following eradication of browsers?' It is these kind of analyses that show how we all as keen birders can contribute to conservation research, but only when the data are out of our notebooks (or heads) and on a publicly accessible platform - of which eBird is the best current option (and is actively supported and promoted by Birds New Zealand).

Nga mihi nui
Colin
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sav
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Re: NZ bird Tickability lists

Postby sav » Sat Apr 20, 2019 12:12 am

Hi all,

I know that I have come to this late, and I'm aware that Brent has made a decision about rehabilitated birds on our Birders Totals page, but:

Quoting the UK 400 Club as "a UK authority" is stretching things to say the least. Lee Evans. (?!).
My mates at BTO tell me that its OK , but anyone who ticks a rehabilitated bird would probably note that on their list.
A straw poll of (mostly British) birders on the recent West Pacific Odyssey (WPO) was split about 60:40 against (including Ron Johns who said it was just wrong!)
Dutch Birding have a straightforward approach to the question. Its not allowed.
There is no rule in Australia (but every top Aussie birder that I have contacted said they were against it).
I dont yet know what the Scandinavians think.

So its not as cut and dried as people suggest.

I'm never going to be in the position of wondering about the ethics, because I will never go to tick a released bird. It just isn't why I am a birder. Like many others I would go to see the Spoonie, but not to tick it.........

None of the above matters much though, because there is a much bigger question about comparative lists, and that is "How well do you need to see a bird to count it?"

It is impossible to compare the limits that one person applies, to those that another does. So comparing your list to another's is difficult. In NZ terms I have a perfect example:

On the WPO, in NZ territorial waters, most people saw a small dark petrel, at long range (initially called as a potential Bulwer's Pet). There was a Wedge-tailed Shearwater, appartently at the same range, and so size comparison was possible. There were 2 observers aboard who had previous experience with Fiji Petrel and both of them said it was that species. I saw the bird for 20-25 seconds and can confirm that it was all dark, small sized, long-winged (and in all likelihood a Fiji Petrel), but I cant claim the ultimate NZ List blocker, because I'm not sure what I saw (and I do know that it wasn't a whole bunch of other things, like Bulwer's Petrel). There will be many worldlisters on that trip who now have Fiji Petrel on their list - its not going on mine no-matter what.

Tick what you like. It's your list after all.

cheers
Sav Saville
Wrybill Birding Tours, NZ
Great Birds, Real Birders
Jan
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Re: NZ bird Tickability lists

Postby Jan » Sat Apr 20, 2019 4:30 pm

Yep, I totally with Sav. Except he doesn't include carbon emissions as 'ethics', just whether the bird has been hospitalised and released.
On all the oceanic trips I've been on, only 3 or 4, I have a tick column that says 'not seen by me' next to the ticks that the others called each day. If I couldn't see the bird adequately to distinguish it from anything else, then it isn't a tick for me. We can all have our own rules for our personal lists. Actually I think if I've seen a bird on the NZ list in Oz then it counts for me, cos I've seen it properly, not like the Dusky Moorhen some N American found on his trip list months later and got accepted at Lake Ellesmere!! FFS!
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Tim Barnard
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Re: NZ bird Tickability lists

Postby Tim Barnard » Mon Apr 22, 2019 1:56 pm

Hey Sav,
Thanks for the Fiji Pet update. Were there any photos or is there any news of the Mag Pet ...
Cheers
Tim

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