"The flagging privilege is strong in my family. My father had it. I have it. My sister has it. You have that power too." - Luke Skywalker
That's how that scene went in Return Of The Jedi, right? Right.
It was only a few months ago when BB&B called out eBird for their bizarre policy regarding who could flag photos of misidentified birds, and who could not. Amazingly, the post generated a great amount of interest while limiting the confusion and butthurt that often follow interesting things around the internet, especially when birders are involved.
Here I am, the #7 birder in the United States, and they don't want my help in tracking down and destroying misidentified birds in their data set? At least a couple BB&B readers/eBird reviewers actually went to the trouble of contacting eBird about my plight, but they were stonewalled with inaction and silence, which is not really what eBird is known for. I figured I had angered the mighty eBird gods somehow, and was doomed to forward tainted checklists to mistake-hungry eBird reviewers for eternity.
But I was wrong.
Like a bolt of nerd lightning out of the internet blue, I am happy to announce that I have been awarded new powers...and if you were in the same boat as me, there is a good chance that now you have that power too.
Behold:
That's how that scene went in Return Of The Jedi, right? Right.
It was only a few months ago when BB&B called out eBird for their bizarre policy regarding who could flag photos of misidentified birds, and who could not. Amazingly, the post generated a great amount of interest while limiting the confusion and butthurt that often follow interesting things around the internet, especially when birders are involved.
Here I am, the #7 birder in the United States, and they don't want my help in tracking down and destroying misidentified birds in their data set? At least a couple BB&B readers/eBird reviewers actually went to the trouble of contacting eBird about my plight, but they were stonewalled with inaction and silence, which is not really what eBird is known for. I figured I had angered the mighty eBird gods somehow, and was doomed to forward tainted checklists to mistake-hungry eBird reviewers for eternity.
But I was wrong.
Like a bolt of nerd lightning out of the internet blue, I am happy to announce that I have been awarded new powers...and if you were in the same boat as me, there is a good chance that now you have that power too.
Behold:
There it is...wrong species!!! This lucky observer will now have the wonderful opportunity to edit their checklist, changing Yellow-green Vireo to Tennessee Warbler. Now you only have to contribute 100 checklists a year in order to flag misidentified birds, instead of the lofty 365. Mellow. So pretty much everyone who was in the same impotent boat as me before is now in a much more potent boat with me, and we didn't even have to become reviewers!
Sure eBird broke the news about this already (if you missed it, jump to eBird for more details), but if you think BB&B is just going to sit here and not take any credit for this breakthrough, you will find that it is you who is mistaken. About a great many things.
We are birding's leading tastemakers and daymakers, and should not be underestimated. We are the champions of the reasonable birder, beginner and bird police alike, and where there is birding injustice, we will be there to answer the call.
Be warned, stringers, pseudoscientists and overzealous photographers. We are watching.
The influence this blog has on the world is astounding.
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