What in the world is a bird expert? So many people these days are calling themselves bird experts and I have no idea what a bird expert is. I know I am not a bird expert! I work for OBServTours and lead trip in Colorado and Manitoba and for some reason I still do not think of myself as a bird expert.
Some birders I know create bird calendars, write books and travel to all kinds of birding festivals are these people bird experts? Or do you have to write a bird guide like David Sibley or Kenn Kaufman to be called a bird expert?
Some people I know love being called bird experts and flaunt it all the time in their blogs. Many of these people are actually just budding birders who have a wonderful gift of writing or speaking about birds but actually spend more time behind computers, microphones, TV cameras then spending time in the field and learning about the birds they write about or talk about. I talked to a few people in the birding community and they get bothered seeing someone who knows very little about bird identification but they continue to write bird books and articles about birds and they get labeled as bird experts. I rather look up to birders in our birding community who spends a great deal of their time in the field and write bird identification articles. These people are not searching for fame recognition, applause from the birding community and always looking for ways to be in the public eye.
What is a bird expert? All I can say is that there are so many popular blogs out there trying their best to sell themselves as birding experts. For example, Tom Nelson "Ivory-billed Skeptic" of Minnesota is probably looked upon by a good number of people in the birding community as a Ivory-billed Woodpecker expert. Is he? Is the other guy (Cyberthrush)"Ivory-billed Lives" looked upon as a Ivory-billed Woodpecker expert. The answer is NO these guys are just sharing reports or giving opinions on IBWO searches, articles and other media reports on Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. There are also people on Bird Forum who discuss 24/7 all they know about Ivory-billed Woodpeckers and some of them probably think they are Ivory-billed Woodpecker experts. Then today on Sharon Stiteler's "BirdChick Blog" there is short media clip of herself getting interviewed on a Mpls. TV station. On the bottom of the screen a few times you can see that she refers to herself as a bird expert but if you scoll down on her blog when she was in Nebraska Sharon was asking her readers to share other field ID marks on a Greater Yellowlegs that she is not aware of. Bird Expert? What is a bird expert?
Then there are people who sit on our Minnesota Records Committee who might think of themselves as bird experts. The truth is there are some people sitting on the committee that have no business being on the committee but isn't all state record committees like that? There are always one or two people you scratch your head and ask "how in the hell did they get on?" There are some people on the committee that are very strong and know their birds and then are some who are just plain weak! I heard that some of the weaker links on this committee usually if not always look to see how the stronger committee members voted before casting their vote. Bird experts?
So far all I learn in all my years of birding is that anyone can be a bird expert as long as that person publishes something to sell to the birding community. ( books & calendars ) As soon as their books or calendars make it to the shelves then they can refer to themselves as bird experts. If that is the case then I will never be a bird expert because I cannot write and I can hardly keep this blog going. Tom Auer and I had this great idea of creating a bird calendar that depicts beautiful birding woman posing next to spotting scopes or posing in different seasons and landscapes. We would market these calendars to single bachelor birder types who are attracted to beautiful woman birders. Nothing skanky or slutty but something that would be good enough where these guys can hang these calendars in their cubicles/offices at work or home. Then after that we could branch out to videos like "Birding Girls Gone Wild". Seriously I have no desire to be a bird expert because all I want to do with this hobby is find casual or accidental birds in my local area here in Duluth, guide people from all over and show them birds, and lead my Lake Superior Birding Trips. I have no desire to write a book or a create calendar even though I know my calendar idea would be HUGE with all them single male birders.
Well that's about it.
Later
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2 comments:
Very rarely do you have control over what the media calls you. I had a conversation with Bob Janssen (a man I admire very much) about this.
He frequently is referred to as an ornithologist because he knows so much and often corrects interviewers by simply saying that he is an ornithologist.
When I'm asked if I'm an expert, I answer, "I know a fair amount." One of the reasons I call myself birdchick is because I don't like to call myself an expert. I'm just someone who likes to share how cool birds are with other people.
I have very little control over what a tv producer puts on the bottom of a screen when I am on tv.
Sharon Stiteler
I remember the day after the Ancient Murrelet was discovered by the MN SE Boys & Phil Chu in Grand Marais, a lot birders were gathered on the north breakwall scoping for the murrelet. I moved to the tip of the breakwall where Bob Janssen was scanning next to P. Svingen & T. Hertzel and Bob was asking "is this gull a immature Thayer's Gull?" or he will ask "Hey this gull looks good to be a imm. Thayer's Gull" and each time P.S. would say "No" and then tell Bob why its not a Thayer's Gull. I stood there amazed to see a so-called "birding expert" or a guy who chaired MOURC and does not have a clue what a immature Thayer's Gull looks like.
"how in the hell do these guys get on MOURC" (-:
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