Mistakes Were Made

Mistakes Were Made

Savannah Sparrow

Sparrows are notoriously difficult to ID. Savannah Sparrow

Each morning my inbox is full of rare bird alerts from eBird. Before deciding to pursue a rare bird, I carefully review the unconfirmed reports to ascertain whether I think the ID is reliable. It’s so easy to make mistakes – identifying birds can be super hard!

It always makes my heart sink when I receive an email informing me that I’ve misidentified a rare bird. The local eBird admin reaches out for clarification or to request a correction in the list. After all, eBird is used by researchers and conservationists in their studies, and they need a reliable data set, especially when it comes to a bird that it out of its range.

Although it’s difficult to absorb that your public rare bird posting was in error, I (eventually) see mistakes as a good teaching moment. It builds our knowledge about particular species, and we can apply this the information in the future.

I now know that Red-breasted Sapsuckers in the winter may have worn feathers that affects the amount of red in the head and breast, i.e. not a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Immature Ferruginous Hawks can have stripes on their tails, which I did not find in any of my field guides (I did find a couple examples in the Macauley Library media). A young European Starling venturing out for the first time looks super weird and does not resemble the adult unless you focus in on its structure. These were lessons learned either from an eBird admin or through posting pictures to online Facebook birding groups, and this information is now burned into my brain for future use.

If you’re new to birding and use eBird to report sightings, you may find that a bird you see is rare for your area or for that time of year. If so, try to get a picture or record its vocalizations on your phone, but at the very least spend time thoroughly examining its features. Work your way from bill to tail. Examine the size and color of the bill, the eyes and facial features, patterning and colors in its wings/back/breast, and markings in the tail. Online apps such as Merlin ID and iNaturalist are great starting points, but a rare bird sighting typically requires more documentation such as media or your own description of the bird in question.

Most of all, enjoy the rare bird you spot. They are far away from home and may be visiting you for only a short moment.

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