I saw at least 17 COMMON NIGHTHAWKS this evening
during my walk home from work. The first was relatively
low over the neighborhood east of Titus Tower in the southern
part of the City of Ithaca. As it seemed to be working its way
west, so did I, and from Wood Street Park across South
Meadow Street (NYS 13) from Tops I watched first one,
then two, then a flock of a dozen foraging, which soon
gathered and worked their way southwest, up Inlet Valley.
They were all pretty high and hard to see without binoculars,
but with binoculars could be distinguished easily from the few
gulls and numerous CHIMNEY SWIFTS. After the dozen
departed I was still able to find a total of 5 COMNIG foraging
over Tops til about 6:30pm. Thus I saw at least 17, I think the
most I've seen at a time in years.
For the person(s) I confused with my second report, the six-letter
codes I use (usually after using the full common name) have a formula.
If a bird name consists of a single word, use the first 6 letters if there
are that many (MALLAR, OSPREY, VEERY, SORA). If the common
name has 2 words, use the first 3 letters of each, thus COMNIG for
Common Nighthawk, and AMEROB for American Robin.
If the common name has 3 words use the first 2 of the first word,
the first 1 of the second and the first 3 of the third (White-breasted
Nuthatch becomes WHBNUT, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker becomes
YEBSAP. And if the common name has 4 words use the first 1 letter
of the first 3 words and the first 3 letters of the last (GBBGUL = Great
Black-backed Gull; YCNHER = Yellow-crowned Night-Heron)
during my walk home from work. The first was relatively
low over the neighborhood east of Titus Tower in the southern
part of the City of Ithaca. As it seemed to be working its way
west, so did I, and from Wood Street Park across South
Meadow Street (NYS 13) from Tops I watched first one,
then two, then a flock of a dozen foraging, which soon
gathered and worked their way southwest, up Inlet Valley.
They were all pretty high and hard to see without binoculars,
but with binoculars could be distinguished easily from the few
gulls and numerous CHIMNEY SWIFTS. After the dozen
departed I was still able to find a total of 5 COMNIG foraging
over Tops til about 6:30pm. Thus I saw at least 17, I think the
most I've seen at a time in years.
For the person(s) I confused with my second report, the six-letter
codes I use (usually after using the full common name) have a formula.
If a bird name consists of a single word, use the first 6 letters if there
are that many (MALLAR, OSPREY, VEERY, SORA). If the common
name has 2 words, use the first 3 letters of each, thus COMNIG for
Common Nighthawk, and AMEROB for American Robin.
If the common name has 3 words use the first 2 of the first word,
the first 1 of the second and the first 3 of the third (White-breasted
Nuthatch becomes WHBNUT, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker becomes
YEBSAP. And if the common name has 4 words use the first 1 letter
of the first 3 words and the first 3 letters of the last (GBBGUL = Great
Black-backed Gull; YCNHER = Yellow-crowned Night-Heron)
Because the last word is usually the most general & useful, that
gets 3 letters. There a few words which have different abbreviations
to avoid ambiguities:
Black is BLK, BK, or K
Blue is BLU, BU or U
Green is GRN, GN or N
Gray is GRY, GY or Y
Great is GRT, GT or G
After all this there are only a handful of current or former ambiguous
species codes for North American birds, and I won't bore you with them
now. I use the codes because they save space and, especially when
texting when I want to keep looking at the bird, time. I picked up this
6-letter system when inputting data at the Lab of O years ago. I find it
easier to use and translate than the 4 letter codes some folks use
--Dave Nutter
On Aug 24, 2010, at 03:22 PM, [email protected] wrote:
gets 3 letters. There a few words which have different abbreviations
to avoid ambiguities:
Black is BLK, BK, or K
Blue is BLU, BU or U
Green is GRN, GN or N
Gray is GRY, GY or Y
Great is GRT, GT or G
After all this there are only a handful of current or former ambiguous
species codes for North American birds, and I won't bore you with them
now. I use the codes because they save space and, especially when
texting when I want to keep looking at the bird, time. I picked up this
6-letter system when inputting data at the Lab of O years ago. I find it
easier to use and translate than the 4 letter codes some folks use
--Dave Nutter
On Aug 24, 2010, at 03:22 PM, [email protected] wrote:
Dozen COMNIG flew south, 4 still over tops 6:20pm
--Dave Nutter
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