Next Monday is April 1st: April Fool's Day. Based on past experience, it's likely that some birders will celebrate the day by posting reports of outlandish rare birds on various listserves.


These April Fool's jokes are all in good fun, as long as you're in the know. They're usually written in such a way that the more experienced birders can recognize them as jokes immediately. The problem is that new birders are more likely to be taken in by them. To a new birder, no matter how intelligent, there's nothing self-evident about the fact that a Black-tailed Gull from Asia is a plausible vagrant to Ohio while a Yellow-winged Tanager from Mexico is not. I have seen unfortunate cases in which brand-new, eager birders, excited about discovery and learning, have been tricked by these April Fools jokes and have been publicly embarrassed. Any joke that selectively targets the beginners is a bad idea, because we need to encourage those new birders. Bird conservation is an uphill struggle, and birds need all the friends they can get.


So, by all means, let the jokes fly, and share those products of the imagination. But if you are new to birding or new to this listserve, please remember to look at the calendar!


Of course, it's possible - even likely - that genuine rare birds will be found and reported on April 1st. But in general, the more "clever" the report sounds, the more likely it is to be an April Fool's joke.


Good (real and imagined) birding to all!




Kenn Kaufman
Oak Harbor, Ohio






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