Hi all,



It's great to see that so many people are getting the opportunity to see the
Grandview Heights Western Tanager. An unbelievably cooperative bird, for the
most part, and the only one of the few Ohio sightings of this species that
has hung around long enough for birders to go see. If you haven't seen Bob
Royse's incredible photos of this bird, visit:
http://www.rarebird.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1670
<http://www.rarebird.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1670&PN=1> &PN=1



As always happens when such a rarity appears, people are interested in how
many records there have been. I've had a number of people ask that, and it
looks like our western visitor will even get some ink in the local paper, as
a reporter called about it today.



One thing that is an important differentiation to make with rare bird
records is between REPORTS and ACCEPTED RECORDS. In the case of Western
Tanager, there have been a number of undocumented reports - most probably
correct - that just didn't have enough detail to allow for either the Ohio
Bird Records Committee or authors of scholarly publications on Ohio's bird
life to accept them as strongly documented with enough good evidence to
accept. Documentation of rarities really must be strong enough that
independent reviewers can look at it, even many years after the sighting
when the firsthand observers may no longer be around, and make the
determination as to its identity. That's why it is so important to
thoroughly document rarities, so that they can become part of the accepted
scientific record, and not slip through the cracks.



The beauty of modern technology is that it often is much easier to document
rare birds, thanks to the vast improvements and widespread accessibility of
digital cameras. Now, we often get evidence like Bob's awesome photos.



Anyway, a few good sources that all Ohio birders should have for basic
research about birds are: 1) Bruce Peterjohn's "Birds of Ohio (2001). Bruce
has great data on all Ohio species up to the time his book was published,
and cites two records of Western Tanager that he felt were acceptably
documented. He also mentions three other possible records. 2) The Birds of
the Cleveland Region, by Larry Rosche (2004). My copy is at the office, but
I think this publication mentions four possible records, with only one being
documented with photos. 3) Birds of the Toledo Area, by Anderson et.al
(2002). One Western Tanager, the last prior to this year, from 1996 at the
Magee Marsh bird trail.



Finally, a wonderful publication that is the most recent and exhaustively
researched checklist of Ohio birds, with much effort given to ferreting out
rare bird records, is the Ohio Bird Records Committee Checklist of the Birds
of Ohio (2004), authored by Dave Dister, Joe Hammond, Rob Harlan, Bernie
Master, and Bill Whan. This is available online at the Ohio Ornithological
Society's website at:
http://www.ohiobirds.org/publications/checklist/checklists.php The OOS is
hopefully going to be updating this checklist soon. The authors cite two
accepted records of Western Tanager, both since 1980.



The Records Committee has already accepted the two Western Tanager reports
from last spring, and if they accept the Grandview bird, we will be up to
five (probably six) acceptably documented reports of this western vagrant in
Ohio.



Jim McCormac

Columbus, Ohio




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