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Re: bird banding codes
- To: Kent Fiala <fiala@ipass.net>, carolinabirds <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
- Subject: Re: bird banding codes
- From: Russ Palmeri <rpalmeri@mindspring.com>
- Date: 24 Jun 2002 19:48:28 -0400
- In-reply-to: <3D16769A.C1EF0555@ipass.net>
- References: <3D16769A.C1EF0555@ipass.net>
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
Kent,
GREAT POSTING!
This is why I joined the list- for just such info. I'm working on the
YBSA (just kidding, the Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker) survey mentioned on
the list a few months ago. The data are to be recorded using banding
codes, and I thought they were a really neat way to list birds. It is
indeed nice to enter them into Avisys that way, but your points are well
taken. It takes no more time to write out the names.
Similarly, many police department have stopped using the "10-codes"
i.e., "what's your 10-20" means "what is your location" . They found it
was MUCH simpler and more accurate to simply state the question- "what's
your location". It leads to less confusion and fewer errors.
Russ Palmeri
Asheville, NC
On Sun, 2002-06-23 at 21:32, Kent Fiala wrote:
> For those not familiar with banding codes, the rules for forming them
> are summarized at http://www.nmt.edu/~shipman/z/nom/bblrules.html and a
> critique of their shortcomings can be found at the parent page
> http://www.nmt.edu/~shipman/z/nom/bbl.html . The complete list of all
> official codes is at http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/manual/aspeclst.htm .
>
> Personally, I use the Avisys version of the codes for data entry, but
> for nothing else. I have two reasons for wishing that people would not
> use them in email. One is that it is a rare email message that is free
> of typographical and/or spelling errors, and a single incorrect letter
> in a banding code can strip it of all meaning. A year or so ago one of
> the owners of the BIRDCHAT list excitedly posted a message with a
> subject of "RGBR". There's no such code, and though it happened that
> from the context of the message you could tell what he really meant, I
> wrote to him that as list-owner he'd chosen an excellent way to
> illustrate why banding codes should not be used in mailing lists. I
> don't think he got my point. The other reason for discouraging use of
> banding codes is that people who don't know that there is actually an
> approved official list of codes start making up their own codes. For
> example, the species RTH is often mentioned on Carolinabirds. Sometimes
> it means Ruby-throated Hummingbird (RTHU) and sometimes it means
> Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA). Again, it's usually clear from the context
> which is meant, but nevertheless if you're going to use cryptic codes,
> at least make the effort to learn the agreed-upon scheme.
>
>
> --
> Kent Fiala
> near Chapel Hill, NC
--
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