[Birdtalk] brd abrvtns?

[B.G. Sloan]

There's a brief but interesting critique of the bird banding lab coding system. The paper starts out by saying: "The banders' code was designed for use in banding. It was never intended to be a general-purpose code for North American bird records. In the author's opinion, its use in other sorts of bird records may lead to problems." Here's the document: 

John W. Shipman. A critique of the Bird Banding Lab code system.
http://infohost.nmt.edu/~shipman/z/nom/bblcrit.html

I use the codes in my field notes (but only for some species). For example, I use banding codes like HOFI, HOSP, MODO, AMGO, EAKI, FISP,SOSP, RBNU, REVI, PUFI, PUMA, etc., etc. But I use my own personalized codes for some birds, e.g., Chickadee is "chick", Blue Jay is "jay", Turkey Vulture is "tv', Towhee is "tow", Northern Cardinal is "card", etc., etc. I figure the most important thing about my field notes is that *I* know what *I* mean. :-) 

I agree with Tim Avery when he says "in emails to the list the proper name is mentioned at least first before using an alpha code to talk about a bird." My pet peeve with the codes is the way some people use them in public birding e-mail lists. In fact, some state e-mail lists have specific guidelines for using them, for example:

* The Texas list says: "Abbreviations or banding codes are not allowed unless the bird's full common English name is used first."

* The Alaska list says: "Use of bird banding codes without first clearly giving the species name is prohibited."

Bernie Sloan



--- On Thu, 12/18/08, tanager at timaverybirding.com <tanager at timaverybirding.com> wrote:

> From: tanager at timaverybirding.com <tanager at timaverybirding.com>
> Subject: Re: [Birdtalk] brd abrvtns?
> To: "Doug Roberts" <djrob1943 at yahoo.com>, birdtalk-bounces at utahbirds.org, "Utah Birds" <birdtalk at utahbirds.org>
> Date: Thursday, December 18, 2008, 11:55 PM
> Hi Doug, 
> 
> The abbreviations are called aloha codes, a standard set of
> 4 letters used mostly in study and research for quick and
> easy reference. They are used widely in banding and
> fieldwork. 
> 
> Typically if a bird has two names, like House Sparrow, the
> abbreviation is the first two letters of each name, so HOSP.
>  Three parts to a name like White-crowned Sparrow and the
> abbreviation is usually the first letter of the each of the
> first two parts and the first two letters of the last, WCSP.
> 
> 
> There are of course a number of species that this caused
> problems for such as Trumpeter Swan and Tree Sparrow, or
> Black-throated Gray and Black-throated Green Warbler among
> others.  In this case then the aloha codes use 2nd letters
> etc to be unique. 
> 
> Although using abbreviations is helpful I would recommend
> that in emails to the list the proper name is mentioned at
> least first before using an alpha code to talk about a bird.
>  Every once in a while I slip one into an email subject line
> when I list a number of birds, but I try to then mention the
> name in the email for those unfamiliar with the codes.
> 
> If you want a list, go to google and try a search for north
> american bird aloha codes and you can probably find a list. 
> 
> Take it easy. 
> 
> Tim 
> 
> ------Original Message------
> From: Doug Roberts
> Sender: birdtalk-bounces at utahbirds.org
> To: Utah Birds
> Subject: [Birdtalk] brd abrvtns?
> Sent: Dec 18, 2008 9:39 PM
> 
> Hi,
> I've noticed some birders use a set of bird
> abbreviations. Is there a standard set? Where on the web
> would I see those?
> Thanks,
> Doug
> 
> 
> 
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