After a very long hiatus from Cobirds, I have signed up again. Not being afraid of controversy, I thought I'd start my new tenure here right!
Thanks at least partly to a Muscovy Duck on the "wrong" side of the Rio Grande many, many moons ago, the American Birding Association (ABA) put its foot down and promulgated specific rules about the listing game as played by ABA and its members. Related to my conversation's topic, ABA's first rule is (taken from ABA Recording Rules & Interpretations - American Birding Association <https://www.aba.org/aba-recording-rules-and-interpretations/>):
(1) The bird must have been within the prescribed area when encountered, and the encounter must have occurred within the prescribed time period.
To be frank, that means that no matter where the birder is standing, sitting, riding, flying, etc., the important aspect of location is where the bird is. In fact, it is the ONLY consideration.
Of course, eBird doesn't care from where birds are reported, at least at small scales. It created its social aspect of the website to generate friendly competition, despite knowing that competition makes some people go a bit crazy, all for the lure of the list and names in lights on whatever geographic region's Top Ten. As I said, eBird doesn't care about some of the particulars; it wants only more and more data, and if their lack of care generates two checklists rather than just one for the same bird at the same place, that's simply delightful.
Enjoy,
Tony Leukering
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