Obviously incorrect reports on eBird

[Nick Allen]

Somebody or something seems to have scooped up Ulva Island and put it in the middle of a paddock near the Mataura River, at least temporarily :)

[Brendan T]

https://ebird.org/checklist/S252243708

Might this one be far more likely to simply be a Goldfinch? The description would still match, it would better suit the location, and the "about the right size" nature of the comment makes it seem like the report was submitted based on an assumption of best fit rather than a confident observation.

[Brendan T]

https://ebird.org/checklist/S146660654

Given the reporter declined to give a physical description, I'd say the kākāriki reported here are likely Eastern Rosellas, too.

[Brendan T]

https://ebird.org/checklist/S124738724

I'd also suggest that, given the lack of description, the default tringa at this location would be Grey-tailed Tattler, despite this overseas birder reporting one each of Wandering, Grey-tailed, and Either/Or. I'd add that Grey-tailed are prone to flocking while Wandering are prone to solitary behaviour, except that all the Wanderings I ever saw in Aus were associating with Grey-taileds. Still, I believe Wandering would have to be justified.

[Brendan T]

https://ebird.org/checklist/S109660059

This looks to be an example of list-building from outside Auckland. It looks like some obs were left as unconfirmed as the likes of Fiordland and Yellow-eyed Penguin don't pop up on the Explore feature, though Salvin's Mollymawk, Campbell/Black-browed, Buller's and a few others do that likely ought to be rejected alongside the rest of the claims as List-building checklists aren't meant to be incorporated into the public eBird database.

(Sorry, on a Manukau deep-dive, so finding a few oddities at the moment. Actually, this single checklist would clean up the majority of the bad data for this region).

[Colin Miskelly]

I suspect 'Half Moon Bay, Auckland' should be 'Half Moon Bay, Stewart Island.

Colin

[Brendan T]

Good call, Colin. Thanks for that.

Two more: https://ebird.org/checklist/S285513177, https://ebird.org/checklist/S155349955

Chestnut-breasted Shelducks reported without comment or precedent at these locations are likely to be Paradises.

[Neil Fitzgerald]

Was that 2016 robin on Rangitoto followed up and confirmed? The original photo with location metadata (rather than what's recorded in ebird)? If it was verified, moving via the mainland seems incredibly unlikely. A direct movement from Tiri would be much larger water crossing (>10km) than previous record (3.5 km). An observation like that should be scrutinised and written up as a short note.

[paradoxdinokipi]

https://ebird.org/checklist/S298097731
https://ebird.org/checklist/S272363454
^ NI Brown Kiwis at Auckland Zoo

https://ebird.org/checklist/S166417276
https://ebird.org/checklist/S102257621
https://ebird.org/checklist/S102313805
https://ebird.org/checklist/S56192198
^ NI Brown Kiwi 'heard' records at Whangaparaoa (these would be Little Spotteds)

There's also quite a lot of NI Brown Kiwi records on Tiri-tiri which would also be Little Spotted but hopefully these will be fixed when Tiri-tiri gets its own eBird filter