birding-aus

Re: Sibley and Ahlquist

Subject: Re: Sibley and Ahlquist
From: "Osborn, Paul PR" <>
Date: Mon, 28 Aug 1995 16:24:38 +1100
Just to add my two cents worth,  Simpson & Day's CD rom uses an alphabetical 
list for searching and I find it a pain. If lists are sorted alphabetically, 
you can never be sure just which word is taking precedence for the 
alphabetical sort. For example, do you put the Paradise-Kingfishers under P 
or K? Do you place the Scrub-robins under S or R?. If you put them under S 
they will be in with the Scrubwrens and Scrub-birds, nowhere near their 
relatives the Robins. I guess you can get used to any ordering in time, but 
I think it makes sense for field guides to have closely related species 
close together so that birders can compare them when making an ID. If your 
lists are then in a different order to your field guide you have to learn 
two different orderings, personally, I found one was difficult enough for 
beginners. If we want to attract more people into birding, and we should for 
the conservation spinoffs involved, not to mention the cost advantages 
inherent in larger production runs for binoculars, field guides etc., then 
we should try to avoid unnecessary complications for beginners.

Paul Osborn
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