CBC Compilers: When to submit details

There are several situations in which you should submit details (photographs, drawings, sound recordings, or detailed written descriptions) for a bird's occurrence in the circle:

• Any bird flagged with "US" (unusual species).
• Birds whose identification is difficult or which are often misidentified.
• If you get good photographs of a bird on the count, even if it is not all that uncommon, send a slide, print, or digitized image (as an e-mail attachment in JPG or GIF format). Audubon is always looking for publication-quality photos for publication in the CBC issue.

Here is a partial list of species for which you should always provide details, and the reasons why I want them:

• Any flicker other than Red-shafted Flicker or apparent hybrid. Because hybrids are so common in our state, and because good information about identification is hard to come by, I am extremely skeptical of any report of a pure Yellow-shafted type. In the last few years we have also had a rash of reports of Gilded Flicker. However much an individual bird may resemble field guide depictions of Gilded Flicker, the New Mexico Rare Bird Records Committee has yet to accept any such records. The historic range of Gilded Flicker in Arizona does not come anywhere close to New Mexico, and the Arizona authorities are not aware of any records of individuals wandering even short distances outside its known range.
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. I don't automatically reject such records, but good records are few and far between. The critical field marks of sapsuckers are quite subtle, and in most localities you should see 100 Red-naped for every Yellow-bellied. In particular, the lack of red on the nape is not sufficient to prove the ID. Please observe and carefully describe the patterns of the throat and back, at the very least. Kenn Kaufman's Advanced Birding is an invaluable resource. Some authorities (e.g., Dr. John Hubbard) even dispute Kaufman's statement that any bird in immature plumage in late December must be a Yellow-bellied.
• Cassin's Sparrow. This species is one of the nastiest ID problems on the continent. Some authorities (e.g., Dr. Sartor Williams of NM Game&Fish) dispute whether it can be identified without hearing its voice. If you report this species, please describe everything you can---the entire plumage, the behavior, shape of head, body, and tail, and the microhabitat. You will be well served by consulting Jim Rising's book The sparrows of the United States and Canada.
• Clay-colored Sparrow. Identification of the entire Spizella complex is tricky. Again, see Kaufman's Advanced Birding or Rising's sparrow guide.

Last updated: 2000/05/04 18:23:15
URL: http://www.nmt.edu/~shipman/z/cbc/det_when.html