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Doug, if you like the Hans Larsson artwork in the Malling Olsen gull guide, have you seen his gull (and tern) plates in the reworked Harrison Seabirds? Oh, they are amazing!

Gull differentiation is not in my skill set yet. Gonna get this guide!

Great reminders. also learned some things I didn't know.

Awesome review! Been reading through the gull guide the last few days and it's been fascinating so far! Definitely worth it!

Excellent review! I’ve been a bit disappointed in the book, to be honest. Was hoping for more side-by-side species comparisons and larger pictures. There are a few helpful photos that depict similar species together but they are so small. But I’m more in the Dunne camp, not particularly caring about the age of the gull as compared to which species it is.

I did'nt want to sound so arrogant (if that is the word). I forgot to mention that the review in itself is very interesting...!

Illinois recently (within the past year-ish) made a collective shift to discord, and in my opinion, it has made keeping up with the "state of the State" so much easier. I've only been birding for 4 or so years, so my introduction to social media groups was a underused statewide facebook group and countless GroupMe chats. It was such a mess on GroupMe as every county or area within the state had its own GroupMe, and large counties like Cook County (Chicago area) had even more chats for not-so-rare birds, single site chats, yard birds, etc. I think everyone just got sick of it so there was a mass exodus to Discord, which disgruntled a lot of people who weren't familiar with the app, but all-in-all its so convenient to have a one-stop shop for all birding alerts, discussions, questions, and more, that are organized to distinct threads and allow for quick access. I know some other states have discords, but I just can't imagine going back to the disarray of myriad FB pages, GroupMes, Whatsapp chats, etc.

Howcome you missed the "Gulls of Europe etc etc", by P Adriaens , M Muusse, P J Dubois & F Jiguet... ? It is easily a fantastic book...!

Dude how high are you in this video 😭

You should make a video about if playback is ethical

Your review of the Gull Guide is great and all. I’m more blown away at the amount of other gull guides you have 😂

My biggest gripe with the book is the fact that the identification section of each species is inverted from the picture order i.e. the text begins discussing adult characteristics alongside photos of juvenile birds. I would’ve liked the adult images to accompany the adult identification text. I’m curious if anyone feels similarly. Other than that, it’s a fantastic book!

I have a 1999 printing of the second edition of Grant's guide but rarely used it. I just got the Gull Guide for Hanukkah though, and looking forward to exploring it.

Awesome video! This book will certainly get some more people to understand how to ID possibly the hardest group in the US

Would definitely encourage anyone to get a copy if you can afford it, but for any other broke college birders, university libraries might be able to get this for you - mine got an Ebook copy within days of requesting, no questions asked, which does allow zooming in on the pictures!

It's a great book! Was excited to see a friend of mine got some pics in as well!

As I watch this video, all I can think about is Bob Duchesne saying "You're a birder if..." and thinking "you spent 16 minutes watching a TH-cam video reviewing a single book for identifying a single group of birds."

Great review Doug! Thanks for the video. Loving this style of content. Big Gull Guide fan :)

Received my copy a few hours ago! Happy New Year!

I quit submitting lists to eBird because of the review panel in my state. I had eBird set up with the alerts for species needs and found out that a small cadre of insiders were filtering out rare bird sightings from the public until they deemed them clean. Do I sound jaded? You’re damn right. Why do the lists have to have the reviews first? Why can’t the plebes see the flagged lists as well and the review process involve the greater public? I know. Control freaks. I believe eBird has a 10 page bylaw you can read and flagged birds require reviewers send emails to the lister with reasons. You think that gets done with the backlogs of big states with a lot of incoming lists on a daily basis? No way.

I think you handled the situation as best you could with keeping the bird and science in mind. Perhaps the only additional thing for those wondering why they weren't on the "in" is communication of the reasoning just like how you laid out in this video. Sure other birders may still have wanted to see it but I do believe all ethical birders would be more understanding if they understood why. I don't know what the best or most fair way to communicate that would be, perhaps something along the lines of "possible Species found today, no location as access is limited in attempt to ID/band with location/access and ID to follow once documented". There may be a few unethical birders who try and figure out where but it keeps everyone "in the know" and participating in the excitement while still allowing the initial gatekeeping.

More to do with the advent of sugar feeders than climate impacts

Great topic, Doug. I live in Columbus, OH and went today to see our state’s third ever Anna’s Hummingbird! It had been coming to a feeder about 2 miles from my home! It was a lifer for me! I tried once and missed it and the homeowner stopped public access. I waited way too long to go, she had lots of viewing opportunities before. However, after being closed for a week or 2, she began letting small groups of up to 3 birders at time come over and see it. You could stay for 2 hours before the next person or small group would come. The bird has been there for 47 days now and was banned a few weeks back by Allen Chartier. Oddly enough, we also have a Rufous being seen at home near Cincinnati right now!

I had no idea about the backtracking "rule" on ebird, I have never met anyone that has done this. Really interesting

If you were confident the bird would stick around, you could have released the news widely on day one, then told people that the garden would be closed on, let's say, day 4, giving birders time to chase it and then the ringer (bander) a chance to catch it. I don't chase other people's rare finds, but I am lucky enough to live in a place where rarities are rather regular, and none of us locals here would surpress the news of something just so that it could be trapped. It's also worth bearing in mind that many birds do disappear after being trapped. Maybe not hummers, but certainly lots of passerines.

I know many birders that can identify birds from a long list of possibilities and get quality pictures within seconds. That is the game and skill you can play with.

How do you think it could have been the people when people had already been there. You gave it a traumatic experience by banding it, which is why it left for awhile. This is the problem with gatekeepers, they blame others for what they caused.

I always keep my feeder up even if it’s empty. The birds still come and check it out, and when I do refill it they’ll come back. I also have many plants with flowers that attract the birds, a woodpile that they collect spiderwebs from, and promote insect life like crane flies. These help to keep the birds around even when I’m not feeding them.

In California we see hummingbirds year round, and when I lived near the coast I would get loads of them at my feeder. Hummingbirds are a year round site here. It was super cool to see all the migratory species. We had rufous hummingbirds visit us many times.

“It is fairly dramatic to see such a shift in wintering areas” well I think we can expect a lot more range shifting in coming decades thanks to climate change.

If the homeowner was okay with anyone coming who wanted to see it initially and 9 showed up on that second day, I don't see why you wouldn't allow others the same opportunity. You can still tell them no one is allowed on the day the bander will be there. I don't blame anyone who was upset only a privileged few were given initial access when the homeowner had no objections to more visitors. It didn't end up mattering for most or possibly even all, but just on principle I disagree with that decision. I don't have all the details about who would have wanted to see the bird or what their reasons were, but neither do gate keepers, which is part of the problem. The assumption was made that someone doing a big year (who I would guess probably doesn't even need that bird for their life state list) is more deserving of a chance to chase than, say, a relatively unknown birder with limited opportunities to travel for whom the bird is a world lifer or countless other unknowable hypotheticals. That's the kind of assumption that gives some people, especially newer birders, a sense that birding is an exclusionary hobby. I'd rather slightly jeopardize the bander's chances than risk giving that impression.

Love this. As a birder, I don't feel like I'm entitled to information about a rare bird. If you're upset about not being able to access a bird, you're missing the point. It's supposed to be a relaxing hobby. I don't think there should be much effort made to placate the people who get upset about this, there will always be something else to complain about. There are plenty of rare birds out there.

Another great video Doug! Here in the Chicago area, we had three rare hummingbirds simultaneously at three private residences (two Rufous and one Anna's). I got plenty of experience the last few weeks in navigating these types of scenarios. Lucky for me and many others, the homeowners were gracious hosts, and everybody I encountered was very respectful. The Illinois Rare Bird Discord was an excellent resource, with our moderator reaching out to the homeowners and conveying various rules and preferences regarding visiting birders. Communities like that definitely serve to make the experience one of cooperation and respect for both the bird and the host. To my knowledge, there were no banding attempts. But I do agree with the protocol you adopted here, with conservation and consideration at the forefront. Your respect for the birds continuous to impress. Good luck in all your winter birding and can't wait for your next video!

I'm from Ontario and was shocked to sea Anna's hummingbirds in January on Vancouver island, I was initially sure it must be lost and destined to starve. They're tougher little things than we give them credit for!

Your videos are so amazing! Only problem is that you dont have more for me to watch!

Personally, I'd say the "highest gate" should have been in place until banding was completed. Not just for fairness, but to prevent people from getting in the way, even those related to the reporter, banders, etc.. If science or research is mission critical, then I think gatekeeping is of high priority. For the home owner, I'd not be surprised if they told those close to them. However, I think there's is more of an obligation to keep ones' lips sealed for those involved with banding, or who are representative in some way of bird-related organizations. But all's well that ends well...this time. ;)

Great video again Doug. Loving the recent uploads

I’m in Northeastern Oregon and I had an Anna’s hummingbird stay in my yard over the 22-23 winter. I’m not certain if it was a female or an immature male, but I have pictures of it taken in December and January. I have not seen them over-winter here since then.

As a fairly private person, I'd honestly have to think twice about reporting an especially rare bird on my property at all (or at least within the 7 day RBA window on eBird) simply because I don't want the headache of herding cats or playing host. The only way I'd even consider making such a bird at my residence public knowledge and publicly available is if there was someone else I could rely on to do that work for me and manage the flow of people. In any other case, I'd always make a point of posting it as quickly as possible once I'm sure I've got the ID right (or at least correct enough to be certain the bird is rare, whatever it is) because I want to make sure everyone else who wants to gets a chance to look for it themselves.

I had a Rufous Hummingbird in my yard in Michigan a few years ago. We also had it banded and definitively ID’d in a few days and then I just had people message me on Facebook to let me know when they wanted to come. It worked well and everyone (save for the very last person who came in November) was able to see it. If another one ever comes I will definitely get a guestbook for people to sign lol. It was a fun experience and everyone was great about it!

As an Android application developer, there are so many things I wish I could contribute to eBird. Not just for quality of life like faster loading, but also for data critical elements, like auto-removal of backtracking. I would definitely apply to work for Cornell if I was living in the States, but sadly this expat is abroad.

Your approach to set up a google form is genius. While bad individuals can cause distress to a bird when alone, massive crowds of well behaved people can be just as hectic. Too many people is simply overwhelming for locals and wildlife. Metering the traffic is a great solution. I suppose the only downside is that some birds don't hang around too terribly long, so metering may result in later scheduled people missing the opportunity.

My birding buddy and I would use humor to dispel disappointment. We picked a common bird in the area. Then pretended it was rare. We would shout with joy when we saw one. Then when something truly rare came along, we enjoyed it even more.

Very informative I love it! I feel safe to say I use most of these correctly such as the subspecies option. I only add subs if I feel 100% confident in the ID. Some of the breeding codes I am not sure if I've been doing right such as the flyovers. I've been adding them any time of the year to most birds if they displayed a behavior of flying high over a habitat such as a forest with at least more than one individual clearly traveling together going one direction, but not including certain groups like raptors and swallows that have a habit of spending lots of time airborne. I am also unsure about the distance tracking you mentioned in this video, because I have always included the backtrack 9/10 times as part of my track because I bird just as hard on the way back as I do on the way forward, but only adding new species that weren't detected and/or carefully adding to species already detected if I can definitely say there were more individuals detected on the way back making sure I don't double count.

Nice tips, will be very useful on my first "actual" pelagic trip in Mexico. Thank You Also, congrats for your fist thousand subscribers!!

Just found your channel, Doug. Found several of your videos very helpful! Thanks.

Were always so caught up with trying to get the perfect video that we often forget to just soak up the moment and observe for yourself :)

Is this reviewing proccess the same in Latin America?

Is there a reason you tried to run it over? Was the throttle stuck? Was it a deleted scene from Speed 2?

Looks awesome. How early, approximately, does registration open up for the 2025 trip. Thanks in advance