dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu (David Mark) (09/01/90)
Anyone else out there keep a list of bird species identified (seen or heard) on television? I do, and the others that I know who do this keep the following rules: (1) bird must be wild and unrestrained when filmed or taped (i.e., if you had been next to the camera, you could have counted the bird on a 'real' list; thus captive birds in TV programs don't 'count'); (2) listing only while program is being aired (i.e., you can't videotape the program and then identify birds during playback; you only get a second chance at ID if the program is re-broadcast). My own personal TV total is 768 species. Of those, about 500 are ones I've seen in the wild as well. In the "Pettingell Book of Birding Records", p. 134, the top TV lists are given as: 1109 species, by Hugh Currie, of Toronto, Canada, as of 2 August 1985. 985 species, Pete Fraser, or Bristol, England, as of 17 May 1985. 581 species, Charles Leck, Kendall Park, New Jersey, as of 29 March 1985. But Leck and lots of others probably are way ahead of me now. So, to repeat, any other TV bird listers on rec.birds? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= David Mark dmark@sun.acsu.buffalo.edu
andrewt@cs.su.oz (Andrew Taylor) (09/02/90)
In article <34489@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu (David Mark) writes: >Anyone else out there keep a list of bird species identified (seen or heard) >on television? I have serious reservations about a TV-lister's sanity but you can make important observations! A Sydney birder known for "good ears" was watching the nightly news. In a piece on the discovery of a murder victim in a swamp, he heard in the background what he was sure was a Mangrove warbler call (do you list birds only heard on TV?, what about radio?). He called the TV station and after much explanation found out roughly where the piece was filmed. A birder local to the area was phoned and dispatched to the site. The result - an extension of several hundred kms to the Mangrove Warbler's range. Andrew
dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu (David Mark) (09/03/90)
In article <1167@cluster.cs.su.oz> andrewt@cluster.cs.su.oz (Andrew Taylor) writes: >In article <34489@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu >(David Mark) writes: >>Anyone else out there keep a list of bird species identified (seen or heard) >>on television? > >I have serious reservations about a TV-lister's sanity ... Thanks. > ... but you can make >important observations! A Sydney birder known for "good ears" was watching >the nightly news. In a piece on the discovery of a murder victim in a >swamp, he heard in the background what he was sure was a Mangrove warbler >call (do you list birds only heard on TV?, what about radio?). He called the >TV station and after much explanation found out roughly where the piece >was filmed. A birder local to the area was phoned and dispatched to the site. >The result - an extension of several hundred kms to the Mangrove Warbler's >range. > >Andrew But one has to be careful to apply that technique only in news and sports, and not in drama. I remember back in the '60's, in an episode of "Project UFO" with a story set in Maine (northeastern USA), hearing a Wrentit (a coastal scrub bird never recorded in any US state except California and Oregon) singing in the background. And then there was the Eastern Screech Owl singing in the opening scene of "E.T." which was set in California. > do you list birds only heard on TV?, what about radio? I do include birds only heard on TV, on my TV list. Have picked up a few in the background on telecasts of golf tournaments, etc. I do not (for obvious reasons) include birds heard on the radio as part of my television list, not birds seeen or heard in movies seen in theatres or on aircraft. And I don't have a radio list or a movie list. Yet. > A Sydney birder known for "good ears" ... Any Sydney birders known for "good eyes"? Well, come to think of it, perhaps all Australian birders are known for "G'day"s! :-) David Mark dmark@sun.acsu.buffalo.edu
s30986u@kaira.hut.fi (Martin Helin) (09/14/90)
I've been too busy lately to read this group but I happened
to notice an article discussing TV bird lists. If somebody
still has it could you repost. I'd like to comment it.
Thanks,
Martin
Martin Helin Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
Internet : mhe@otax.tky.hut.fi s30986u@kaira.hut.fi
UUCP : uunet!kaira.hut.fi!s30986u