Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Here is a good example of why CBC data can be important

If are an avid ABA-area lister, or if you regularly bird Florida, you probably know that Smooth-billed Ani has been virtually extirpated from the state, and essentially from the entire United States. So, what is an enterprising birder to do? Field a petition to get the species listed as state-endangered in Florida. What is the hard evidence supporting that request? Christmas Bird Count data! Check out the actual petition and the attached CBC data for Florida:

http://myfwc.com/imperiledspecies/petitions/Smooth-Billed-Ani-Petition.pdf

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You need someone to get the ball rolling here.

Didn't that perp down in muggy galveston used to live in Florida at the time all the Anis started disappearing? Ya know the one who gets off by killing cats. The one who used to kill Blue Jays and Crows? Maybe he had a thing against Anis too.

After he gets out of jail, maybe we should take up a collection to get his meds staightened out. Or maybe
we could get him converted to Islam. He would be right at home with that crowd.

Anonymous said...

CBC data can also be used to show that mockingbirds are declining.

CBC data is mostly collected along roads. Roads attract development. Roadside habitat disappears. So do mockingbirds.

CBC data is useless junk that statisticians have never been able to ge a handle on. Oh, they have pretended to. Published some analyses in minor journals.

But it's all crap. There. Someone had to say it. So sue me for remaining anonymous, Bill.