ZooChat Big Year 2016

[Chlidonias]

Next year, we're using a specific checklist.

but it's all peoples' personal year lists. The differences in split/non-split are minimal.

 

[Chlidonias]

also, I'm not using Groves' ungulate list!

 

[jbnbsn99]

I meant for bird one. I don't want to deal with the mess that is mammal lists. But, if we're having a competition, we should have a standard list everyone goes from. Most likely eBird/Clements.

 

[LaughingDove]

I've never seen anything on genetics for that split, it seems to be on appearance alone.

Whether correct or not, I find that splits on phenotypic differences make more sense to me. I understand the reason for genotypic splits, and I sort of understand the way they are actually worked out, but as a birder I am looking at live birds, and not the cells of dead birds.

For anyone who is not aware, a lot of the splits on hbw are done with this system: Taxonomic scoring system | HBW Alive

 

[Chlidonias]

Whether correct or not, I find that splits on phenotypic differences make more sense to me. I understand the reason for genotypic splits, and I sort of understand the way they are actually worked out, but as a birder I am looking at live birds, and not the cells of dead birds.

For anyone who is not aware, a lot of the splits on hbw are done with this system: Taxonomic scoring system | HBW Alive

I quite understand that. I weigh up a combination of both if I am deciding whether a split/lump makes sense or not. The spur-winged/masked plovers have obvious hybridisation where their ranges meet, which doesn't mean they aren't good species but for me I keep them as subspecies. In other situations two populations may look really similar but their genetics say otherwise. I don't just say "genetics say yes" or whatever, otherwise I'd have a list twice as large.

So for someone else, I would like to give what evidence there is, e.g. "seems to be based largely on appearance", "genetic evidence seems sound", etc so the person can make up their own mind on how to treat it (or just follow whatever their list says).

In the case of the Tobias Criteria, genetics are largely over-ridden/ignored in favour of appearance. It was discussed briefly on the first page of the Taxonomy thread way back when: http://www.zoochat.com/65/taxonomy-thread-376091/

e.g.

yes the IUCN redlist follows the BirdLife taxonomy. The "Tobias criteria" is a good idea in some ways - in broad terms it can determine relatively simply whether a particular taxon is "valuable" enough for protection without having to wait for DNA testing - but it falls down in not taking the genetic evidence into account. And there is some criticism that for particularly uniform groups of birds - say swifts or warblers - it may not be at all accurate. I imagine there would also be quite a few birds where the behaviour and voice simply weren't well enough known - or even known at all in many neotropical forms - to take them into account, and splits/non-splits would therefore be judged basically on morphology (e.g. coloured parts, size of crest, length of tail, etc). It has been argued that the "Tobias criteria" method of using physical differences and ignoring genetic differences is pretty much the exact opposite of most taxonomy research nowadays. More importantly, there is the criticism that there is not a body of back-up work to the decisions. Generally speaking when taxa are split or lumped, there are reasons given to the effect of "we did this research, and took into account these peoples' studies, etc etc". With BirdLife's "Tobias" splits it is more a case of "we have split/lumped this. Accept it."

I do get the intent behind the use of the "Tobias criteria" (they are covering every bird in the world and need an all-encompassing technique in the absence of genetic data for many of them) but it lacks finesse.

 

[Maguari]

Next year, we're using a specific checklist.

Three thoughts:

- that instinctively sounds like an unnecessary bit of bureaucracy that will only put people off joining in the silly fun.

- the differences split by split are minimal, as Chli says, and the discussions they create are far more interesting than the inevitable stream of posts of people going 'no, that's not on The List' that would ensue.

- most importantly, this has never been anything like a properly fair competition - how is it fair that LaughingDove and lintworm gallivant around the world while 'poor old' Hix is stuck struggling to three-dozen on some tropical island paradise? Unless you can come up with an algorithm to account for geography and ability to travel the whole thing can't be anything more than a glorious bit of fun anyway - embrace it as such.

 

[Chlidonias]

- most importantly, this has never been anything like a properly fair competition - how is it fair that LaughingDove and lintworm gallivant around the world while 'poor old' Hix is stuck struggling to three-dozen on some tropical island paradise? Unless you can come up with an algorithm to account for geography and ability to travel the whole thing can't be anything more than a glorious bit of fun anyway - embrace it as such.

that's a very good point. I motion that we strike LaughingDove and lintworm from the record!

Also, I might come up with some sort of template for bird vs country vs travel vs number vs colour which will put me in the lead. (I could add in a "vs payment" if anyone else wants to be in the lead).

 

[lintworm]

I saw my 900th lifer this week with a:

444. Black-crowned sparrow lark

445. White-browed scrub robin
446. Grey wren-warbler

447. Yellow-necked spurfowl
448. Rosy-patched bush shrike (finally...)


@Chlidonias, I object . Technically most species I see during working hours and how can you remove people just because they see birds when at work...

 

[Hevden]

A few more from Ham Wall on the way home from Cornwall

218. Great White Egret
219. Osprey
220. Water Rail

One more from the bank holiday weekend

221. Ring-necked Parakeet

 

[Chlidonias]

@Chlidonias, I object . Technically most species I see during working hours and how can you remove people just because they see birds when at work...

well okay. In fact you may get bonus points for that.

 

[Macaw16]

...

All from a walk around Lindisfarne (1/8/2016), I also have a bird I'm yet to identify (if I get too stuck I will upload a picture):

...

7. Grey Seal Halichoerus grypus

...

One from a reservoir somewhere in Northumberland (not a planned trip to it, I just happened to be passing; 6/8/2016):

95. Common Tern Sterna hirundo

From RSPB Blacktoft Sands (3/9/2016):

8. Wood Mouse Apodemus sylvaticus (how did it take me so long?!)
9. Red Fox Vulpes vulpes

96. Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus
97. Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa
98. Dunlin Calidris alpina
99. Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava
100. Ruff Philomachus pugnax

 

[Maguari]

8. Wood Mouse Apodemus sylvaticus (how did it take me so long?!)

I've not had a UK-based wood mouse since 2014 (they are on this year's Big Year list though, thanks to Hungary!).

 

[Macaw16]

I've not had a UK-based wood mouse since 2014 (they are on this year's Big Year list though, thanks to Hungary!).

We get them regularly in my garden (particularly in our compost bins), but they have managed to evade me this year. The view I got of this mouse was it just wandering around on the path, not caring at all about my presence.

 

[Vision]

Visited Zoo Wuppertal today, which is where I met these guys (A lifer for me, too!)

Germany:
21) Eastern chipmunk, Tamias striatus

 

[Hix]

34. http://www.zoochat.com/674/christmas-island-boobook-461453/

35. Glossy Ibis



Hix

 

[LaughingDove]

So I was looking through HBW.com today and I noticed that they have split Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles) and it turns out the birds I saw in Cairns were actual Vanellus miles but the ones I saw in Brisbane/Gold Coast were Black-shouldered Lapwings (Vanellus novaehollandiae).

This is one of three splits that adds to my year list that I have not included (the other two being Gilbert's/White-naped Honeyeater, and Western/Golden Whistler) but the lapwing split is the only one that is included in HBW which is where I keep my wild bird sightings so I mostly go with that taxonomy.

If the other two splits are included in HBW at a later date (possibly with the publication of the Illustrated Checklist of Birds of the World Volume 2) then I will include them, but for now:

588) Black-shouldered Lapwing

Today was the last day of my approximately three month holiday, and in a relatively short amount of time birding this afternoon, I was able to add two more species:

589) Lesser Spotted Eagle
590) Black Woodpecker

 

[Mehdi]

I'm starting this

Mammals :

1 - North African elephant shrew , Petrosaltator rozeti
2 - Barbary macaque , Macaca sylvanus
3 - Crested porcupine , Hystrix cristata
4 - Barbary ground squirrel , Atlantoxerus getulus
5 - Barbary striped grass mouse , Lemniscomys barbarus
6 - Brown rat , Rattus norvegicus
7 - Black rat , Rattus rattus
8 - Cape hare , Lepus capensis
9 - African savanna hare , Lepus microtis
10 - Desert hedgehog , Paraechinus aethiopicus
11 - Common pipistrelle , Pipistrellus pipistrellus
12 - African wildcat , Felis silvestris lybica
13 - Egyptian mongoose , Herpestes ichneumon
14 - Red fox , Vulpes vulpes
15 - Ratel , Mellivora capensis (lifer for me in Morocco)
16 - Cuvier's gazelle , Gazella cuvieri
17 - Wild Boar , Sus scrofa
18 - Dorcas gazelle , Gazella dorcas
19 - Red squirrel , Sciurus vulgaris

Birds :

1 - Common shelduck , Tadorna tadorna
2 - Ruddy shelduck , Tadorna ferruginea
3 - Barbary partridge , Alectoris barbara
4 - Common quail , Coturnix coturnix
5 - Cory's shearwater , Calonectris borealis
6 - European storm petrel , Hydrobates pelagicus
7 - Northern gannet , Morus bassanus
8 - European shag , Phalacrocorax aristotelis
9 - Great cormorant , Phalacrocorax carbo
10 - Great white pelican , Pelecanus onocrotalus
11 - Black-crowned night heron , Nycticorax nycticorax
12 - Little bittern , Ixobrychus minutus
13 - Squacco heron , Ardeola ralloides
14 - Cattle egret , Bubulcus ibis
15 - Little egret , Egretta garzetta
16 - Purple heron , Ardea purpurea
17 - White stork , Ciconia ciconia
18 - Greater flamingo , Phoenicopterus roseus
19 - Red kite , Milvus milvus
20 - Black kite , Milvus migrans
21 - Griffon vulture , Gyps fulvus
22 - Egyptian vulture , Neophron percnopterus
23 - Short-toed snke eagle , Circaetus gallicus
24 - Western marsh harrier , Circus aeruginosus
25 - Montagu's harrier , Circus pygargus
26 - Eurasian sparrowhawk , Accipiter nisus
27 - Long-legged buzzard , Buteo rufinus
28 - Booted eagle , Hieraaetus pennatus
29 - Golden eagle , Aquila chrysaetos
30 - Osprey , Pandion haliaetus
31 - Common kestrel , Falco tinnunculus
32 - Eleonora's falcon , Falco eleonorae
33 - Lanner falcon , Falco biarmicus
34 - Peregrine falcon , Falco peregrinus
35 - Barbary falcon , Falco pelegrinoides
36 - Eurasian coot , Fulica atra
37 - Houbara bustard , Chlamydotis undulata
38 - Black-winged stilt , Himantopus himantopus
39 - Eurasian stone-curlew , Burhinus oedicnemus
40 - Cream-coloured courser , Cursorius cursor
41 - Collared pratincole , Glareola pratincola
42 - Northern lapwing , Vanellus vanellus
43 - Great skua , Stercorarius skua
44 - Mediterranean gull , Ichthyaetus melanocephalus
45 - Audouin's gull , Ichthyaetus audouinii
46 - Black-headed gull , Chroicocephalus ridibundus
47 - Yellow-legged gull , Larus michahellis
48 - Lesser black-backed gull , Larus fuscus
49 - Little tern , Sternula albifrons
50 - Crowned sandgrouse , Pterocles coronatus
51 - Black-bellied sandgrouse , Pterocles orientalis
52 - Rock dove , Columba livia
53 - Common wood pigeon , Columba palumbus
54 - Stock dove , Columba oenas
55 - Eurasian collared dove , Streptopelia decaocto
56 - European turtle dove , Streptopelia turtur
57 - Laughing dove , Spilopelia senegalensis
56 - Common cuckoo , Cuculus canorus
57 - Barn owl , Tyto alba
58 - Eurasian scops owl , Otus scops
59 - Pharaoh eagle-owl , Bubo ascalaphus
60 - Marsh owl , Asio capensis
61 - Little swift , Tachymarptis melba
62 - Alpine swift , Apus affinis
63 - Common swift , Apus apus
64 - European roller , Coracias garrulus
65 - European bee-eater , Merops apiaster
66 - Hoopoe , Upupa epops
67 - Great spotted woodpecker , Dendrocopos major
68 - Levaillant’s woodpecker , Picus vaillantii
69 - Eurasian spoonbill , Platalea leucorodia
70 - Little grebe , Tachybaptus ruficollis

I'll post passerines and amphibians / reptiles later ...

 

[LaughingDove]

Some absolutely awesome species there, Zoo Tycooner FR!

 

[Vision]

Turns out I forgot to add this one to my original post, but here's another, rather silly addition from my visit to dublin;

Northern Ireland:
123) Tufted duck, Aythya fuligula

 

[boof]

two weeks in the Northern Territory
27/8/2016
238. blue winged kookaburra
239. bush stone curlew
240. great bowerbird
241. little friarbird
242. northern rosella
243. pheasant coucal
244. plumed whistling duck
245. radjah shelduck
246. tawny frogmouth
247. varied lorikeet
248. white throated honeyeater
28/8/2016
249. grey crowned babbler
250. torresian crow
251. white winged triller
252. black breasted buzzard
253. dusky honeyeater
254. northern fnatail
255. orange footed scrub fowl
256. shining flycatcher
257. spangled drongo
258. white gaped honeyeater
259. yellow oriole
260. RUFOUS OWL*
29/6/2016
261. common sandpiper
262. crimson finch
263. green pygmy goose
264. pied imperial pigeon
265. raindow pitta
30/8/2016
266. brown honeyeater
267. comb crested jacana
268. rainbow bee eater
31/8/2016
269. intermediate egret
270. black necked stork
1/9/2016
271. brahminy kite
272. GREEN BACKED GERYGONE*
273. grey whistler
274. gull billed tern
275. MASKED BOOBY*
276. silver crowned friarbird
277. varied triller
2/9/2016
278. BRIDLED TERN*
279. COMMON TERN*
280. forest kingfisher
281. lesser crested tern
282. lesser frigatebird
283. rose crowned fruit dove
284. rufous banded honeyeater
3/9/2017
285. brown booby
286. emerald dove
287. wilson's storm petrel
4/9/16
288. red headed honeyeater
5/9/2016
289. beach stone curlew
6/9/2016
290. collared kingfisher
7/9/2016
291. AUSTRALIAN BUSTARD*
292. BANDED HONEYEATER*
293. diamond dove
294. lemon bellied flycatcher
295. masked finch
296. PALLID CUCKOO*
297. RED BACKED FAIRY WREN*
8/9/16
298. common greenshank
299. greater sand plover
300. lesser sand plover
301. whimbrel
302. eastern reef heron
303. weebill
9/9/2016
304. pied heron
305. BLACK NAPED TERN*
306. WANDERING TATTLER*
307. white breasted woodswallow
308. whiskered tern
309. YELLOW WHITE EYE*
310. rufous throated honeyeater
311. paperbark flycatcher.