I can see both Nikolas' (Haass) and Graeme's (Chapman) points of view. If
photos of the Night Parrot are published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal,
then the images should not be manipulated unless there is an explained
(published) scientific reason for doing so. However, Australian Birdlife is a
magazine for a general birding audience, rather than a peer-reviewed scientific
journal. So, personally, I don't mind that the photo(s) has (have) been
"tidied up" for aesthetic purposes ("air-brushed"). But it would have been
preferable for the magazine to have acknowledged that the photos had been
air-brushed.
What is more important is for the details of the Night Parrot discovery to be
accurately documented in a peer-reviewed scientific journal (as stated by
Nikolas), for all raw data (other photos, all video footage and calls) to be
accessible to peer reviewers (as stated by Jeff), and for the right
conservation measures to be implemented to ensure the survival of the species
(as stated by Graeme).
Stephen Ambrose
Ryde, NSW
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Nikolas Haass
Sent: Sunday, 13 October 2013 2:41 PM
To: Burt May; net. au
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] FW: Night Parrots and slander
Dear Burt, Alastair & BirdingAus,
I believe ‘SHUT UP’ is a strong word, Burt, but it doesn’t convince me and it
doesn’t change the situation. Looks like you haven’t read the most recent
thread on Birding-Aus. You should do so. There is nothing emotional like your
statements imply. There is an objective discussion about obvious image
manipulations of the only two published images that are supposed to prove the
existence of the Night Parrot! This has nothing to do whatsoever with how many
hours someone has spent in the field. It is the fact that the images were
manipulated.
BTW: The same manipulations that you can find in the Australian Birdlife
magazine are also apparent in the newspaper coverage of the story indicating
that the manipulations had happened prior to submission to Birdlife Australia.
It is too early to accept or reject the record as a genuine life Night Parrot.
As I said earlier, at this point we don't have any scientific evidence at all
that Night Parrots still exist, as none of the original proofs have been
presented so far.
However, there is hope that Night Parrots are still around, as Jeff Davies had
mentioned: There should be 598 further photos (raw files) of the bird
(hopefully some of which showing the other side of the bird), there should be a
17-second video (of which only a couple of seconds were revealed so far), there
should be the so far unpublished DNA analysis (which may stem from a different
bird, as JY has found the feather(s) during daytime on the
roadside) and finally, there should be sound recordings.
I hope this will all be published in a peer-reviewed journal and undergo proper
scrutiny, so that the next step can be initiated:
The conservation of this species and its habitat!
So fingers crossed!
Nikolas
----------------
Nikolas Haass
Brisbane, QLD
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