"I want to hope against all odds," says James Bednarz of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. "But my scientific logic says it's deep in the vortex of extinction."Some readers may not be aware that Bednarz was a member of the Cornell search team (he saw several abnormal pileateds in the search area); that he was an advisor to Cornell search team co-leader Ken Levenstein; and that he's also a member of the IBWO Recovery Team.
Monday, August 20, 2007
An insider speaks
In Erik Stokstad's recent Science piece, this appeared:
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6 comments:
http://bbill.blogspot.com/2007/08/brown-eyed-vireo-problem.html
Wherein Soggy Bill complains that field guides don't disclose methods for distinguishing between closely related birds at every stage of their life cycle.
So Bill goes birding and learns something that isn't in the field guides. But instead of taking pleasure in his careful observation and sharing his discovery, Soggy Bill goes for an indictment of field guides. It's sad. We should take pity on his stunted and self-centered soul.
By the way, the illustration he wants to see is in the Sibley Guide.
Can't comment to Soggy Bill directly, but to give him a bit more help in finding what is needed: see page 347 of Sibley 2000. The image you want is right there "Worn juvenile (Aug-Sep) can become very pale and gray (compare Bell's).
Bill's problem is that when criticizing the field guides, he doesn't compare apples to oranges (where have we heard that before?). What all-wet-Bill saw was a bird in juvenal plumage; what he cited as comparison in the eastern Sibley guide is a bird in first Basic (1st winter) plumage. Sibley covers that too in the big book but probably had to cut some images for the smaller, more general format guide. Get over it Bill, you're all wet on this one. A sad attempt to discredit Sibley.
What all-wet-Bill saw was a bird in juvenal plumage...
And what he doesn't understand is that juv. plumage in vireos (and many other songbirds) is only held for a matter of weeks and that it is molted before fall migration. Specialized guides, like the specific guides for wood warblers, have the pages to deal with this very transient plumage.
I agree that Bill needs a bit of a lesson on how much information can be fit into a field guide. He's essentially making the statement that every single known plumage of every species should be included. I can hardly wait to see the Herring Gull page(s).
Guess what, Bill. You'll need a backpack to carry that multi-volume set of books. That's why there are entire specialized guides on warblers, sparrows, raptors, gulls, jaegers & skuas, shorebirds, etc.
I just read Bill's ridiculous last line...
Just another argument for learning to bird primarly (sic) from other birders and then only secondarily from field guides, but not everyone has that luxury.
While mentoring is a big help, the primary source of BASIC knowledge will be field guides. The reasons are that they can be studied at length and that they can be accessed more frequently than other birders. Bill makes a blatant mistake of thinking they purport to answer every question.
FYI, Bill, the best birders I know learned an enormous amount on their own. Books, articles, and discussions all gave them a a strong base of knowledge, as did help from others, but their time spent alone in study is what made them so good.
If you go to sad Bill's site, all you see now are he and cyberthrush having inane comments about insane subjects.
Come on, Bill. Let us comment again. What are you afraid of? Your blog is dull now. Plus you are often wrong and need some mentoring. We can help. Let us in.
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