All,
My thoughts are that abbreviations are used a little too much on this
forum - especially for users with limited knowledge, but surely if
someone is genuinely confused (rather than trying to make a point) they
can ask - there are enough helpful people on here to sort it out. e.g.
OBP took me some thinking about, because that is the widely used
abbreviation for Olive-backed Pipit in UK, but I got over it pretty
quickly, and this probably didn't confuse anyone else on the forum.
The use of scientific names is not the way forward, aside from taxonomic
debates, the scientific names are normally longer than the common ones,
so people will start using abbreviations - then we're all in a right
mess, with a mix of common and scientific abbreviations. Plus the use of
scientific names will turn off the casual birder by making it all look
rather elitist. The casual observer would immediately be interested if
someone saw a Speckled Warbler, but would have to think twice if someone
reported a Pyrrholaemus sagittate or should that be Chthonicola
sagittate.
Murray Magpie is taking it a bit far if it isn't a common name used
across Australia.
My views are that people should post in a manner that is generally
understood by MOST people on the forum. Lets not have too many rules on
an open forum designed for everyone to use - otherwise we spend more
time talking about the rules than the birds - this post being a classic
example.
Jason
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Peter Shute
Sent: Monday, 21 July 2008 4:54 PM
To: Greg & Val Clancy; Evan Beaver; Graham Turner
Cc: Baus
Subject: Many Double-bars in breeding plumage
After birding for getting on for two years I can usually work out what
people mean if they aren't too vague. I wouldn't have known what a
Murray Magpie was. I'd almost class that as slang, rather than a common
name, because its usage is likely to be very localised (am I wrong?).
I don't mind if people use any of the names out of the last couple of
editions of the field guides and C&B - you really have to know those -
but beyond that it can get hard to decipher.
Abbreviations ought to be explained occasionally. Everyone will come
across "OBP" eventually, so they need to know it, but other less common
abbreviations need explaining every time they're used. Does anyone have
a list of other abbreviations they think don't need explaining?
Peter Shute
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> On Behalf Of Greg
> & Val Clancy
> Sent: Monday, 21 July 2008 4:08 PM
> To: Evan Beaver; Graham Turner
> Cc: Baus
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Many Double-bars in breeding plumage
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I think that there is a rich history in alternative common
> names and I am
> not suggesting that everyone should use the accepted common
> names at all
> times but when corresponding with people who may become
> confused or posting
> information on an internationally read site (such as
> Birding-aus) consistent
> common names would be very helpful. People publishing papers
> on birds have
> to adopt the 'official' common names to avoid confusion.
>
> I would be keen to hear the opinions of people who have only
> been birding
> for a short time. I have been birding long enough to know
> that 'Murray
> Magpie' is an alternative name for the Magpie-lark but I am
> sure that many
> others have not.
>
> Greg Clancy
>
>
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