I use my own six-letter code. The system is described at
http://www.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds/sixlettercode.html
I agree with others in recommending against use of codes in posts to
birding listserv lists, but for personal use I find my six-letter code
much easier than a four-letter code.
What are the four-letter codes for Barn Swallow, Bank Swallow, and Bahama
Swallow? All three can't be BASW. In the six-letter system they're
easy: Barn Swallow=BARSWA, Bank Swallow=BANSWA, Bahama Swallow=BAHSWA.
For two-word names the first three letters of each word are used. The
codes almost read themselves. In the BBL (Bird Banding Laboratory)
system, Barn Swallow is BARS and Bank Swallow is BANS. Bahama Swallow is
presumably BAHS. For Breeding Bird Survey work you'll want to use the
BBS system, which has about 60 codes that differ from the BBL system's.
For example, Barn Swallow is BASW (or is that for Bank Swallow???) ...
and, oh yes, Bank Swallow is BNKS (or is that BANS?). What is Bahama
Swallow in the BBS system? I don't know. Maybe the same as in the BBL
system, BAHS?
These swallows do not require special-case abbreviations in the six-
letter system. They are simply
Barn Swallow = BARSWA (3 + 3 for the two words)
Bank Swallow = BANSWA
Bahama Swallow = BAHSWA
My six-letter system has only nine "collisions," each one involving two
species, so only 18 special-case abbreviations are required for the
nearly 1000 birds in the ABA checklist. A four-letter system (either
one) requires over 100 special-case abbreviations, more than 10 percent
of the entire checklist.
Ned mentions three examples of similarities or collisions in the four-
letter BBL system:
"RNPH" = Ring-necked Pheasant (????) = Red-necked Phalarope (RNPH)
"CHSW" = Chimney Swift (CHSW) = Chestnut-sided Warbler (CSWA)
"BAOW" = Barn Owl (BNOW) = Barred Owl (BDOW)
I couldn't find the BBL code for Ring-necked Pheasant in the RNPH
collision, but RNPH (the collsion code itself!) is assigned to Red-necked
Phalarope according to the reference I found.
The codes for Chimney Swift and Chestnut-sided Warbler are similar, but
there is no collision if the four-letter rules are followed.
The BAOW collision for Barn Owl/Barred Owl is resolved by special-case
abbreviations BNOW and BDOW.
In the six-letter system there is no pheasant/phalarope collsion. We
have instead
Ring-necked Pheasant = RINEPH (2 + 2 + 2 for the three words)
Red-necked Phalarope = RENEPH
There is no swift/warbler collision. We have
Chimney Swift = CHISWI
Chestnut-sided Warbler = CHSIWA
The Barn Owl/Barred Owl collision is resolved by very readable six-letter
special-case abbreviations.
Barn Owl = BARNOW
Barred Owl = BARROW
Note that BAROWL is not used for either species, which would be confusing
and could easily lead to errors.
The six-letter system rules, special-case codes, and a complete listing
of codes for species in the ABA checklist are at
http://www.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds/sixlettercode.html
Bruce M. Bowman
Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
Washtenaw Co., southeast Michigan
[log in to unmask]
http://www.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds
Date sent: Wed, 7 Oct 2009 22:49:07 -0400
Send reply to: Ned Keller <[log in to unmask]>
From: Ned Keller <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [Ohio-birds] Four letter codes
To: [log in to unmask]
> The real problem with using these codes is that they cause confusion, on
> several levels. Many readers have no idea at all what you're talking
> about. If your intention is to show off your superior knowledge, you're
> doing great; but if you want to communicate actual information, that's not
> so great.
>
> Even worse is when someone who uses the codes thinks he knows them, but
> doesn't. Then the people who don't know the codes are in the dark, but so
> are the folks who do know them.
>
> Without looking it up, is RNPH a Ring-necked Pheasant or a Red-necked
> Phalarope? Is CHSW a Chimney Swift or a Chestnut-sided Warbler? Is BAOW a
> Barn Owl or a Barred Owl? What ARE the right codes for these owls? For
> Nelson's Sparrow? Do the codes change when the bird's name changes? Is
> Green Heron GRHE because that's its name now, or GBHE because it was
> formerly Green-backed Heron, or GRHE because it was Green Heron before it
> was Green-backed Heron?
>
> --
> --
> Ned Keller
> [log in to unmask]
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
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------------------------------------
Bruce M. Bowman
Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
Washtenaw Co., southeast Michigan
[log in to unmask]
http://www.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds
______________________________________________________________________
Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
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