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To question the 'motives' of Robbins, Prum, and Jackson is ludicrous. Doing so is more of a statement about 'yourself' than them. Physical evidence either supports sight records or it doesn't. Asking for physical evidence doesn't make somebody a bad person. Making an observational mistake doesn't make somebody a bad person, either. A little example just occurred in MO. The Four Rivers tern was observed at close range for extended periods of time, and positively identified as a ROYAL TERN by a host of credible and experienced observers including a former Missouri Bird Records Committee Chairman, and another existing MBRC member. I tried for the bird myself - failed - but chalked it up to my own bad luck. Never for a moment did I doubt all the observers were wrong just because I didn't see it for myself. Now the physical evidence doesn't support the ID. No one blames the observers, the photographer, or One Hour Photo - it was an aberrant-plumaged bird - stuff like that happens all the time. It's just another wonderful part of birding! The lesson is pretty simple for me - physical evidence helps eliminate human error (or identifies individual aberration!). Aberrant plumage can occur within any bird species, including Pileated Woodpecker. Glimpses (sight records) of a flying, aberrant-plumaged (individual) Pileated Woodpecker **could** be mis-interpreted, similar to the Royal Tern episode. It was not unfair to consider that fact in asking for physical evidence. The blurry video did not qualify as convincing physical evidence to a lot of people, and thus needed to be 'openly and honestly discussed', as Kenn Kaufman stated. Mssrs. Robbins, Prum, et al were willing to ask for that discussion, and last Saturday, we were ALL rewarded with quality physical evidence that delighted EVERYONE. No shots were fired. Nobody died. Respect and friendships are intact. These are professionals, and my hat is off to them for finally **unifying** a divided scientific and birding community on this issue. Yes, they actually helped move the Ivory-billed program forward! Moving on, this 'cold' front should produce some very interesting birds - maybe the season's first Long-tailed Jaeger? Stint(s)? Tomorrow and Friday will be great days to skip work and head to your favorite patch. Good luck! Chris Hobbs [log in to unmask] __________________________________________________ ########################################################### * Audubon Society of Missouri's * * Wild Bird Discussion Forum * *---------------------------------------------------------* * To subscribe or unsubscribe, click here: * * https://po.missouri.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mobirds-l&A=1 * *---------------------------------------------------------* * To access the list archives, click here: * * http://po.missouri.edu/archives/mobirds-l.html * * * * To access the Audubon Society of Missouri Web * * Site: http://mobirds.org * ###########################################################