BIRDS -- even more bird mafia discussion

[Wilbur]

Recently I have seen video from some local folks.  I checked this morning, and the option isn't available to me.  Per the site:

"If you have a collection of high-quality, high-resolution exemplar videos that you would like to add to your eBird checklists and archive at the Macaulay Library, please send a link to your video portfolio to the Macaulay Library ([email protected])."

and:

"If you are part of the limited testing group uploading videos, Manage Media allows you to quickly add media to your eBird checklists and simultaneously edit the data for multiple videos, photos, or recordings."

So my guess is that only authorized users can upload video, similarly to how only a select group of eBirders can upload captive species photos.

[TheLastWolf]

1 hour ago, Wilbur said:

If you are part of the limited testing group uploading videos, Manage Media allows you to quickly add media to your eBird checklists and simultaneously edit the data for multiple videos, photos, or recordings."

So my guess is that only authorized users can upload video, similarly to how only a select group of eBirders can upload captive species photos.

Hah! Found it, tough luck tho 

The Internet Bird Collection’s collaboration with the Cornell Lab has added videos for thousands of species, now archived in the Macaulay Library. eBird and the Macaulay Library are exploring the feasibility of archiving additional videos from the eBird community, so you may see more videos appearing on checklists. At this time, we are considering requests for the video upload feature from experienced videographers. If you have a collection of high-quality, high-resolution exemplar videos that you would like to add to your eBird checklists and archive at the Macaulay Library, please send a link to your video portfolio to the Macaulay Library ([email protected]).

[Wilbur]

The folks at eBird have a tough job to do in terms of gate-keeping media submissions.

Even with just photographs, the struggle is real.  There is a set of knowledgeable birders who submit lousy quality pictures.  Then there are decent photographers who misidentify birds on the regular (like me).  And let's not forget the poor photographers who are also bad at bird identification!  And the corner cases, like the folks who photograph and submit pictures of captive birds, or dead birds, or joke pictures, etc.

Expanding into video will only accelerate all of the above, I would guess.

[TheLastWolf]

14 hours ago, Wilbur said:

Then there are decent photographers who misidentify birds on the regular (like me).

And me 

[Xray the Enforcer]

14 hours ago, Wilbur said:

The folks at eBird have a tough job to do in terms of gate-keeping media submissions.

Even with just photographs, the struggle is real.  There is a set of knowledgeable birders who submit lousy quality pictures.  Then there are decent photographers who misidentify birds on the regular (like me).  And let's not forget the poor photographers who are also bad at bird identification!  And the corner cases, like the folks who photograph and submit pictures of captive birds, or dead birds, or joke pictures, etc.

Expanding into video will only accelerate all of the above, I would guess.

I use Macaulay (that's where all the eBird photos go) for research purposes and I run across incorrect IDs all the time. Most of the time it's with difficult species (Greater vs Lesser Scaup, Barrow's vs Common Goldeneye, Purple vs Cassin's vs House Finch). But recently I've really noticed that people are very bad at IDing immature male birds -- they keep flagging them as female when they're very much not. (especially true with warblers)

[TheLastWolf]

4 hours ago, Xray the Enforcer said:

I use Macaulay (that's where all the eBird photos go) for research purposes and I run across incorrect IDs all the time. Most of the time it's with difficult species (Greater vs Lesser Scaup, Barrow's vs Common Goldeneye, Purple vs Cassin's vs House Finch). But recently I've really noticed that people are very bad at IDing immature male birds -- they keep flagging them as female when they're very much not. (especially true with warblers)

Merlin bird ID... 

[Wilbur]

7 hours ago, Xray the Enforcer said:

I use Macaulay (that's where all the eBird photos go) for research purposes and I run across incorrect IDs all the time...

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

[Xray the Enforcer]

3 hours ago, Wilbur said:

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

No!! Don't worry about it!! I'd rather people engage with eBird and birds than feel bad about an occasional incorrect ID! 

[TheLastWolf]

There was an unusual animal sighting in my neighborhood that led to the Forest dept. investigating pugmarks and setting camera traps. Turned out to be a Jungle Cat (Felis chaus) the size of a jackal! Started hunting domestic fowl, now Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon (Columba Livia) and possibly juvenile peacocks. Good thing, last one. They have almost become pests (agriculturally, they are) due to uncontrolled breeding, large habitats, blind protection as national bird and lack of natural predators. 

No Peacock midnight orgies anytime soon. Insomniac me can get some sleep. 

[litechick]

I know next to nothing about birds but I am posting here because I had a bird encounter that I want to share.

Recently I did a kayaking trip on the Mississippi which brought me close enough to observe a couple of islands with huge populations of some kind of crane.  It was pretty impressive.  First came the sound, upon getting closer I noticed the dozens of nests in the tree tops.

I didn't know that Minnesota even had cranes, much less that they were nesting so close to an industrial part of the river up on the north side of the city.

Nothing really to say about it except, "Go birds!"

[Fragile Bird]

7 hours ago, litechick said:

I know next to nothing about birds but I am posting here because I had a bird encounter that I want to share.

Recently I did a kayaking trip on the Mississippi which brought me close enough to observe a couple of islands with huge populations of some kind of crane.  It was pretty impressive.  First came the sound, upon getting closer I noticed the dozens of nests in the tree tops.

I didn't know that Minnesota even had cranes, much less that they were nesting so close to an industrial part of the river up on the north side of the city.

Nothing really to say about it except, "Go birds!"

Cranes go very far north, up to the Yukon and the NWT! The breeding ground of the whooping crane, for example, is in northern Alberta and into the NWT.  
 

eta: lots of cranes in Alaska as well

[Xray the Enforcer]

14 hours ago, litechick said:

I know next to nothing about birds but I am posting here because I had a bird encounter that I want to share.

Recently I did a kayaking trip on the Mississippi which brought me close enough to observe a couple of islands with huge populations of some kind of crane.  It was pretty impressive.  First came the sound, upon getting closer I noticed the dozens of nests in the tree tops.

I didn't know that Minnesota even had cranes, much less that they were nesting so close to an industrial part of the river up on the north side of the city.

Nothing really to say about it except, "Go birds!"

Oh hell yes! Birds can be remarkably resilient -- urban raptors like Peregrine Falcons and Red-tailed Hawks have learned to thrive. Based on your description and my general understanding of bird habits in Minnesota, you likely saw a mixture of Sandhill Cranes (much more populous than Whooping Cranes) and some mixture of herons and egrets. Cranes tend to nest on flooded wetlands, but herons, egrets, and pelicans will build a whole rookery of nests at the tops of trees. What a cool find!!!!!  I am jealous! 

[Larry of the Lawn]

58 minutes ago, Xray the Enforcer said:

Oh hell yes! Birds can be remarkably resilient -- urban raptors like Peregrine Falcons and Red-tailed Hawks have learned to thrive. Based on your description and my general understanding of bird habits in Minnesota, you likely saw a mixture of Sandhill Cranes (much more populous than Whooping Cranes) and some mixture of herons and egrets. Cranes tend to nest on flooded wetlands, but herons, egrets, and pelicans will build a whole rookery of nests at the tops of trees. What a cool find!!!!!  I am jealous! Ooh

Ooh!  Re: urban birds-- the last 3 or 4 years I've noticed tons of black vultures up here, and the weirdest part to me is that they seem to love the urban life.  I see them out in the boonies too but down in Hudson you see them perched on rooftops and lampposts.  They seem pretty gregarious and don't mind the hustle and bustle - there is a group of abiut a dozen of them always sitting on the roof of a bank next to a lumberyard in Hudson I go to a few times a month, and I've seen them in downtown Albany too, although not in big groups.

I've never seen turkey vultures in an urban setting like that.

[HoodedCrow]

Here, I keep seeing a hawk handler, whose job seems to be releasing his hawk to scare the gulls away from buildings.

[Xray the Enforcer]

4 minutes ago, larrytheimp said:

Ooh!  Re: urban birds-- the last 3 or 4 years I've noticed tons of black vultures up here, and the weirdest part to me is that they seem to love the urban life.  I see them out in the boonies too but down in Hudson you see them perched on rooftops and lampposts.  They seem pretty gregarious and don't mind the hustle and bustle - there is a group of abiut a dozen of them always sitting on the roof of a bank next to a lumberyard in Hudson I go to a few times a month, and I've seen them in downtown Albany too, although not in big groups.

I've never seen turkey vultures in an urban setting like that.

Oh yeah! Down in Florida the Black Vultures just hang out in random dumpsters behind Arby's 'n' shit. And my friend who lives in Sao Paulo -- they hang out on the terrace of his building -- he sends of video of his friends the Black Vultures all the time. Their habitat in North America is shifting north because of climate change -- 20+ years ago getting a Black Vulture up here was a Big Deal -- and so it makes sense that they'd colonize a niche not occupied by the more typical Turkey Vultures. Love me some vultures!

2 minutes ago, HoodedCrow said:

Here, I keep seeing a hawk handler, whose job seems to be releasing his hawk to scare the gulls away from buildings.

Another friend of mine is a falconer who works mostly with Harris's Hawks and their full-time job is as pest abatement -- in their area it's mostly grackles rather than gulls, but same idea. 

[TheLastWolf]

9 hours ago, Xray the Enforcer said:

urban raptors like Peregrine Falcons and Red-tailed Hawks have learned to thrive.

One stole a couple of hen chicks my little cousin in the farm adored. I was more worried that I missed a great chance at taking awesome snaps. But at least I got to see it 

[HoodedCrow]

I know a guy who ran a small airport or two in the air force, who did employ falconers to prevent bird strikes. Think “ Miracle on the Hudson” avoided.

When I lived near Stanley Park, I saw bald eagles circling the area as a routine. It was a beautiful view.

Last week, I saw a gull parent flapping his or her wings trying to get her fledgling to jump and fly onto shorter building, I think. Those gulls are so well adapted and took over! I see them skirling when they are uplit. Lovely. One tried to crack open a wedding ring on our skylight by  throwing it down persistently, till we tossed up tennis balls to annoy it....so almost right:)

In a different city we often had a murder of crows settle on a skylight.

In Hampton Court as tourists, I tried to get a nice photo of the resident “ tame?” Swan but saying “ oh what a beautiful swan you are, what a lovely neck”..and such like. It seemed to enjoy that. However, when I was walking away, it whacked me lightly on the butt/ bum. It could have nipped, but didn’t. Having heard about swan danger, I walked away more quickly. Perhaps it was expecting a treat? Liked my patter?

[Fragile Bird]

I’ve been watching the US Open at Torrey Pines, outside of San Diego, and one of the neatest things is hearing all the unusual bird calls in the background!

[Hereward]

Just arrived in west Wales for a week’s birdwatching. I’m off on a sea trip tomorrow in the hope this will be my first attempt to see Puffins that doesn’t end with “you should have been here last week”.

I’m also confident/hopeful of Shags, Gannets, Razorbills, Guillemots, Storm Petrels, Manx Shearwaters, Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Choughs, Dippers and maybe even some rarities. 

It’ll take a miracle to beat my last trip, to Norfolk in May, when I managed 99 species in one day.

[Luzifer's right hand]

I saw the swans again and all 4 young ones seem to be in a good shape. The small one seems to have cached up size wise.