Why do birders create State lists?
The nature of man is to bring order to his surroundings. We create lists as
it's part of our DNA. What sort of lists and why is a personal thing.
Boundary's are a part of what we have been stuck with, but you have got to
have something to define the list. In Africa for instance some ignorant
Euros and Poms drew lines right through people groups to carve up the
territories creating havoc but I do have a "birds of Malawi" list not a
"birds of the Chewa speaking people"...
I list my own state and country but am looking to do the other states as
well. I also list birding spots, ie Birds of xxx National park, birds of the
Noosa region... for reference. No one will look at them except me but there
fun!! A bit like slides from old holidays......
I also list how may surf spots I've surfed (this has its own set of
criteria) - 218 - I would like to know how many times each and how many
waves caught per session but I think that would be a bit over the top.....
Also Countries of the world I've visited etc
List are fun, some people collect stamps and rocks. I have a friend who
collects sand from beaches he visits... but that could be deemed as
environmentally uncouth..
Cheers
Steve Potter
Blackwood, South Australia
Why do birders create State lists?
from [Frank O'Connor]
[Permanent Link][Original]
To:
Subject:
Why do birders create State lists?
From:
Frank O'Connor < >
Date:
Wed, 04 Feb 2009 01:25:15 +0900
Because it is a free country ..............
Seriously, I do keep state lists. It started because the first field guide
that I bought was Simpson & Day, and it has check boxes next to the
distribution maps. So (for some reason I cannot remember) I ticked a box for
each state I saw the species in. When Christidis & Boles came out in 1994, I
collated the information and have maintained my state lists since.
For anyone interested, my state totals are
Queensland 494 (including Torres Strait islands)
WA 480 (not including Ashmore, Cocos or Christmas)
NSW 336 (not including Lord Howe)
NT 289
Victoria 259
SA 240
Tasmania 145 (not including Macquarie)
For some reason, I haven't recorded ACT. I have only passed through a couple
of times. I have separate lists for each island territory.
Queensland and WA are the only states I have birded extensively. There are
massive holes in the other states. I don't plan trips to fill in these
holes, but if I happen to be in a state, then I do try to add a few more
'state ticks'. I might make an exception for Queensland and plan a trip to
take it to 500 as a nice round number, but I would also be looking for
mammals, butterflies, etc at the same time. WA has always been my main list
even before 1994. I only put together my Australian list when C&B1994 was
published.
As for biogeographical regions I can't see how you can clearly differentiate
them in the field. You can be standing on the edge of a "freshwater wetland"
surrounded by open "grass fields" with some "woodland" close enough by. Or
standing in "coastal heath" looking at birds on the "coastal beaches", and
some breeding on a nearby "offshore island" with some "pelagic" birds also
flying by. Yes I know these aren't exactly the 85 "recognised" bioregions
quoted by Laurie, but I am not going to make 3 or 4 separate lists when I am
in the field. They all go on to the one Atlas form.
_________________________________________________________________
Frank O'Connor Birding WA http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au
Phone : (08) 9386 5694 Email :
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