Hi Gary,
Birders submitting documentation are not the primary customers of the CBRC
reviews. While the birders submitting documentation are very interested in
the outcome of the review, the validity of the historical record and the
list of Colorado birds itself is the 'customer.' Remember that even rejected
records are stored and available for later review, if warranted. The duties
of the CBRC are clearly defined in CBRC Bylaws to: 1) solicit, collect, and
organize records of rare or unusual birds and 2) review, evaluate, and
assess all records and to rule on the acceptability of the record. Please
note there there is no mention of speed of review or any designation of
'customer' status to the individuals submitting records.
I cited the Kelp Gull example to illustrate the extreme compexity of a very
limited number of records - usually of long-range vagrants - and primarily
to list as many of the aspects of CBRC review as possible, as some
subscribers had requested, and not because of the length of time it took to
review. As I trust you know, gull ID is fraught with problems because many
species are well known to hybridize and in this case many outside experts
were consulted and the evidence was examined and re-examined by these
experts within and outside of the CBRC over a considerable period of time.
It is clearly more important to reach the correct decision than to rush to
judgment. There is nothing to be gained by rapid review unless one is
obsessed with a need for false efficiency. Also, our CBRC committee is
staffed with volunteers many of whom also have full time primary
occupations. In addition, in my previous post I noted that a large majority
of records are processed quite quickly. Our recent upgrade to an electronic
review process has signficantly streamlined the transmission of records and
eliminated cumbersome and time consuming delays caused by manual handling of
relevant material including photographs, printed references, and opinions
crafted by far away experts with their very necessary back and forth review
as observations are made and opinions offered for consideration by the
committee.
Jim Beatty
Durango, CO
----- Original Message -----
From: "The "Nunn Guy"" <lefk...@coloradobirder.info>
To: "Colorado Birds" <cobirds@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 7:53 AM
Subject: [cobirds] Re: Records Committee Process
Thinking more along the lines of process efficiency ... what incentive
do birders have to "input" sightings to Records Committee if the
"output" of the process is four years away?
Does the committee have a service level agreement (SLA) with its
customers (birders) in that when birder A submits a report; committee
B has x-month(s) to review and decide? BTW SLAs are developed in
agreement with your customer(s) not by the service provider
(committee) alone. SLAs also can be measured over time to review
performance giving customers a chance to say "well done" or "your
process is not meeting our expectations" offering the committee a
chance to become more efficient (review process) or review performance
of process owners (committee members) in the process.
Thanks
Gary Lefko, Nunn
http://coloradobirder.ning.com/
On May 10, 4:10 pm, "The \"Nunn Guy\"" <lefk...@coloradobirder.info>
wrote:
So, as a "process guy" I'm sitting here wondering why a Kelp Gull
(which more than likely is not an escapee of any sort) takes four
years to say "accepted"?
Thanks
gary Lefko, Nunnhttp://coloradobirder.ning.com/
On May 10, 3:07 pm, "Jim Beatty" <jdbea...@bresnan.net> wrote:
> Hi COBirders,
> The Rufous-collared Sparrow has raised questions about how the Colorado
> Bird Records Committee might approach this possible record. While I'm
> not a member of the CBRC, it may be helpful to present a summary of the
> basic process and reference sources of more detailed information.
> Some background may be of interest to COBirds subscribers who are not
> members of Colorado Field Ornithologists. The CBRC is a unit of CFO and
> appointed by the CFO President and confirmed by the Board. There are
> seven members of the CBRC including the chair. All members are
> term-limited except for the chair. Members must be expert birders, CFO
> members, and contribute to the CFO goals.
> Today most records are submitted and reviewed electronically, but, let
> me emphasize, nothing starts until a sighting record is submitted to the
> CBRC. The results of these reviews are published periodically in
> 'Colorado Birds,' as the 'Report of the CBRC.' These reports are
> extensive and the individual record reviews are in proportion to the
> uniqueness and difficulty of a particular record.
> The CBRC is explained in more detail on the CFO website under 'Records
> Committee' and 'About.' The 'About' page at the top links to the CBRC
> reports from 1998 to 2010. The inidividual reports are summarized and
> then the full report, as published in 'Colorado Birds,' is linked to a
> .pdf file.
> For an example of extreme complexity and thoroughness look at the 43rd
> Report of the CBRC and its review of the Kelp Gull. This acceptance
> report is cited as a 'summary' which has been condensed to 17 pages. If
> you page through this report, you will find the many factors that are
> considered in making a difficult final determination. This bird was
> sighted in September 2003 and the final report was published in 2007.
> Needless to say, most records can be reviewed in a much shorter time
> with much less effort. In fact the 57th report of the CBRC in the
> January 2011 issue of 'Colorado Birds' lists decisions made on sightings
> from 2009 and 2010. Both 'accepted' and 'not accepted' records are
> reviewed.
> The CBRC is the official body that determines the bird list for the
> State of Colorado. They are expert, careful, diligent, and hard-working.
> We are very fortunate to have such a dedicated committee reviewing and
> managing our records.
> Finally, I do request that you continue to document rare and unusal
> sightings within the state. These records contribute much to our
> knowledge of distribution and status of bird species in the state. All
> records are housed at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
> Jim Beatty
> Durango, CO- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
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