Some of these questions are answered on the ABA Listing & Taxonomy website: https://www.aba.org/listing-taxonomy/ and https://www.aba.org/aba-recording-rules-and-interpretations/
Example: RULE 4: Diagnostic characteristics, sufficient for the recorder to identify it to species, must have been seen and/or heard and/or documented for the bird encountered. A. “Diagnostic characteristics” means the natural characteristics needed to uniquely determine the species of the bird. It is not necessary to experience every possible diagnostic characteristic, but simply sufficient characteristics to eliminate the possibility of the bird being any other species. (i) Identification of the bird may be made after the initial encounter. It is not always possible to secure a positive identification initially, but, using physical and/or written documentation, identification is sometimes possible after the fact, upon consultation of references and/or other authorities. With very tricky identifications, for example, photographs or recordings sometimes reveal minute, yet critical, details that were not discernible during the initial encounter. Furthermore, our knowledge of how to separate similar species in the field is continually advancing. On rare occasions, a species may not be identifiable until after it has been captured and studied in the hand, or had feather and blood samples analyzed. In such instances of “after-the-fact” ID, the bird may be counted on one’s lists. Donna *---------------------------------------* *Donna L. SchulmanForest Hills, NY queensgir...@gmail.com <queensgir...@gmail.com>* * <http://www.flickr.com/photos/queensgirl>* On Thu, Jul 29, 2021 at 10:55 AM John Kent <jwk...@fastmail.fm> wrote: > Another question that occurred to me -- what about birds that people > photograph but don't notice until they are reviewing photos later? That's > fine for eBird, assuming the photo is unambiguous, but for ABA listing? > > John Kent > > On Thu, Jul 29, 2021, at 10:40 AM, Richard Guthrie wrote: > > Remote birding > > If the bird is there, there it is. No matter how it is detected. > > How that knowledge is used is a different matter. > > eBird even has a category for accepting records derived from night calls > monitored by digital recording devices and introduced by later downloads > into the database. > > But a bird viewed at a feeder cam isn't acceptable. > > I can understand that we don't want several hundred reports of the same > vagrant at a feeder entered into the data. But at least one entry ought to > be acceptable. All the other duplicates (except perhaps for subsequent > dates ) could be disregarded. But, wait. Don't we accept dozens of reports > of the same rarity reported by many observers at a stakeout? This is how > programmers earn their keep. > > Rich Guthrie > New Baltimore, > The Greene County, > New York > > On Wed, Jul 28, 2021 at 11:10 PM <gle...@verizon.net> wrote: > > Steve Walter’s spoonbill post got me thinking. > > > > Occasionally, when I’m bored at work, I’ll turn on the live East Hampton > Beach Cam just to see what I can see. Surf, weather, birds, etc. > > > > I’ve been able to identify things like Barn Swallow, Sanderling, even LBB > Gull. Would these count for Suffolk? > > > > With binoculars, light is bent through the lens arrangement to focus on > your retinas. > > > > With the webcam, light is focused onto a CMOS chip, converted to zeros and > ones, beamed to a satellite, beamed back to my computer, and then focused > on my retinas. > > Same thing, right? The time difference between the two is negligible. > > > > I know, I know, it’s not the same. But it is “live” in the sense of time, > and very real. (Not like that great Tom Brady video this week of him > playing catch with a football passing machine). > > > > What if I happen to see a Yellow-nosed Albatross cruise across my monitor > one day? Can I count it and, better yet, should I even report it….. > > > > The problems of the modern age. > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > *NYSbirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> > ABA <http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01> > *Please submit your observations to **eBird* > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>*!* > -- > > > > -- > Richard Guthrie > > -- > *NYSbirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> > ABA <http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01> > *Please submit your observations to **eBird* > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>*!* > -- > > -- > *NYSbirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> > ABA <http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01> > *Please submit your observations to **eBird* > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>*!* > -- > -- 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/ --
